On a recent weekday morning, Mr. Boyce, 42, a computer specialist who commutes to Manhattan from Edison, N.J., was informed by a reporter that his New Jersey Transit rush-hour train arrived late 23.7 percent of the time.
The shuttle service is part of a three-year pilot program that will use two buses to carry commuters from parts of town that are underserved by mass transit during rush hour.
The transit agency rushed into its agreement, with Sprague Energy, after it had received no bids on a proposed contract to deliver the custom-made diesel fuel it uses, which is designed to minimize pollution.
There are less grave but no less daunting concerns too: navigating the transit system; rushing to catch the last bus or train home; and encountering that dreaded nemesis, the city kid.
Yet even if only a small portion (5 10 percent) of the travel market uses transit in the rush hours, a major reduction in congestion can result.
- COREY KILGANNON and ANDY NEWMAN 3 54 P.M. | Evening-Rush Transit Forecast: Not Fun It looks like the afternoon commute - if you can still call it a "commute" - is not going to be a whole lot better than the morning.
Some transit operators charge differently by time of day, based on two concepts: first, the cost to provide transit service is higher during the rush-hours because equipment and personnel requirements are greater then; second, most rush-hour trips are for the purpose of going to and from work, and travelers are willing to pay more for these because of the monetary reward they get for the trip.
4.55pm GMT In Boston, commuters are already crowding the main transit hubs in the rush to get home before the storm hits.
The trick, development officials say, is to prevent Jamaica from becoming simply a transit hub, where commuters rush through on their way to jobs in Manhattan or to the airport.
All other users of transit lanes, especially during rush hour, will lead to adverse effects in terms of congesting transit lanes, incurring additional travel costs for public transport users.
These measures include severe vehicle traffic reductions, enabling fast alternative fuel production, mass vehicle fuel retrofitting, as well as rush public transit enhancement and mandated changes in driving habits.
