NEW JERSEY TRANSIT ROUTES

ROUTES AND ROUTE NUMBERS

A route numbering system was devised in 1925, which basically remained intact into the 1980's. During the 1920's, Public Service had acquired many independent bus operators which had emerged. Some bus lines had competed with existing Public Service Railway streetcar lines, but continued to coexist with the streetcars after the Public Service takeover. In each Public Service division, streetcar routes were assigned odd numbers, while bus routes were assigned even numbers. Where streetcar and bus routes coexisted, the bus route was typically numbered one above the corresponding streetcar route.

Route numbers were generally duplicated among each Public Service division, except with certain longer routes operating into another division's territory. In 1982, New Jersey Transit adopted a new route numbering system, assigning groups of numbers by region or type of service, and eliminating systemwide number duplication.

000's - Newark/Jersey City area local routes
100's - Routes service New York City
300's - Special service routes
400's - Southern New Jersey routes
500's - Atlantic City area routes
600's - Trenton area routes
700's - Passaic County/Bergen County local routes
800's - Middlesex County local routes
900's - "Wheels" routes

For the route histories, discontinued routes are in parentheses. Current New Jersey Transit timetables include a picture of a bus, indicated is whether the bus pictured is a transit bus (T), motor coach (M), or van (V), possibly further hinting in the nature of the route. Route 7 in Newark remains a light rail line.

The dates of conversion from streetcar (SC) to buses are indicated. Between 1935 and 1948, some routes used "All Service Vehicles" (ASV), which could function as either a trolleybus or a motor bus. Most bus routes were acquired from independent operators in the years indicated, other routes were created new. In Jersey City, Public Service created some bus routes supplementing streetcar routes.

For discontinued routes, all routes were discontinued prior to the 1971 reorganization of Public Service Coordinated Transport as Transport of New Jersey, unless a former route is identified as "TNJ".

Any gaps in the route histories usually happened in the 1970's or 1980's. Not listed are certain short lived routes which may have existed during those decades. Also not listed are routes operated by independent companies, which were discontinued prior to acquisition by New Jersey Transit.

Prior to the formation of New Jersey Transit, private carriers were subsidized beginning in 1969. After the 1980 takeover of Transport of New Jersey, many independent bus operators remained, and were later acquired by New Jersey Transit. Most notably remaining independent for a while longer were Atlantic City Transportation Co., and the publicly owned Mercer County Metro in the Trenton area.

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