UPDATE: A tipster sends in the scene on Buckingham Road in Montclair where a three car accident occured this morning around 8:15. Three fender benders on North Mountain around 8:30 am near the Van Vleck. One SUV ran off the road into the yard of 87 North Mountain.
We just got word from Liz that conditions are mighty slick on local roads too, with plenty of fender benders and near-misses just on the way to drop kids off at school. See anything, send us a picture.
Warning galore from those who’ve braved the morning snows to take Decamp into town. Clever Commuters are advising their fellow commuters to take the train. But they’re also reporting some clever bus drivers have found a nice alternate route by driving up the GSP to Rt. 80. And they’re giving bus drivers a mouthful about Clever Commute. Here’s how it looks in my in box.
And here are some more of the emails in detail.
[Decamp-33-66] Decamp dispatcher just said there Is oil spill on Rt3 – she also said she never heard of Clever Commute warning service
[Decamp-33-66] Dispatcher said email Gary Pard if you think dispatchers should start watching Clever Commute
[Decamp-33-66] All write or call Gary Pard for the obvious: TV and BB for dispatchers!!!
BB?
Does anyone know Pard’s email address?
Be careful out there. My Mom just got rear ended on Claremont.
Let me go out on a limb here and say that I don’t think Gary Pard is checking emails. He’s probably hiding under his desk.
Route 280 wasn’t too bad. I saw a couple of fender benders but nothing horrendous.
Be careful out there , its a jungle.
Seriously it bad. I left when roads were clear but hearing alot of fender benders out there now.
Since my email to Mr. Pard bounced back, I’m posting this as an open letter to him in case he’s actually heard of Baristanet and (gasp) reads it:
Your people never heard of Clever Commute? Are they really that out of the loop, or do they lie with straight faces?
You had no idea of the issues on Rt 3 this morning?
Even when there are known issues, many of your drivers don’t bother to take an alternate route. Are they just stupid, or do they follow company directives?
Whatever. You lost me as a regular customer many months ago. The occasional train issues are minor compared to the permanent incompetence that is the state of your company.
Enjoy your day. I’m assuming you don’t need to take DeCamp to get home.
I’m sure he’ll snap-to-it steven after reading your pissy letter from a not regular customer.
Nicely done!
Is there any salting of Montclair streets? I didn’t see any.
Did the new township manager forget to make some calls?
Brookdale to Roseland (9 miles) took 90 minutes (I started around 7:15). I think the back roads might have been better because the traffic on the main roads melted the snow which immediately turned to ice. I took Valley to Claremont to Bloomfield to Roseland Ave. Bumper to bumper (except for the certified A-Holes who still wanted to play the lane change game) from Verona through downtown Roseland. Going up the hill on Livingston Avenue approaching Roseland from I-280 was a complete standstill; going down that same hill, as I was, was a case of hanging on and hoping the light at the Prudential complex was green. It was. I was also delighted to see some burgher in his G-Class Mercedes Panzerwagen spin out and slide off the road. He was doing about 40 when he passed me. I really hope he didn’t get (too) hurt, but massive sheet metal damage would be well deserved here.
Question: “When are people going to figure out that all-wheel drive will certainly get you going, but it doesn’t help a lot when you need to stop in a hurry.”
Memo to Conan: answer is “never.”
What a morning! Not sure if you know it…but the DeCamp bus and the Montclair train are the 2 oldest “Clever” communities: it all started here. While I love to see the flow of information…we’ll probably “tune the dials” on our software that checks for / suppresses duplicate e-mails…as that certainly was a lot of messages.
A bad commute is an awful way to start the day. Let’s hope it gets better soon.
Also got bounceback on that Pard email address. Tried to call but found no “Gary” in the DeCamp automated phone directory. Phone just rang and rang when I hit “0″ for the operator. Could Pard have left recently?
Clever Commute has only been around since 2006 — an Army of commuters with BB’s — Blackberries — and iPhones providing free eyes and ears out there, and DeCamp can’t be bothered to buya BB or a laptop for its dispatchers to take advantage of that and avoid disasters like this morning. Keep that in mind next time they cry about what trouble they’re in because the train is taking their business.
Hi stevenb30, I grabbed an early DeCamp bus this morning out of Montclair, and they did a great job. The driver took an alternate route north up rt 46, then south into the tunnel and the we were at the Port Authority within 45 minutes.
So clearly they were aware of the traffic issue and they dealt with it very effectively.
I agree with Conan. Anyone passing another vehicle while traveling at an unsafe speed is subject to retribution by the forces of inertia. While admittedly immature, it’s hard not to take pleasure in the outcome. Since you seem to derive pleasure in snide put-downs through this forum, it’s possible you can relate.
i actually saw news of the fuel spill on rte 3 on nbc before 6:30am. i got on a bus on grove at 6:53 and the driver already knew to head up to the GSP N to 80 E to 495. we ended up getting in almost at the same time as usual. there was lots of chatter on his radio too. not sure why the drivers behind him didn’t know to do the same thing. i’m sure this issue was also posted on traffic reports online (ex: wcbs880.com).
is it the rider’s responsibility to tell the drivers how/where to drive? or shouldn’t the decamp dispatchers be watching those same websites and tv/radio stations? isn’t that exactly what their job should entail?
Deus ex machina, RoC. You of all people shouldn’t find that particular set of feelings to be disambiguous. And I used the Barista-approved terminolgy; you, however, may get demerits for your response. :>}
I walked to Bloomfield Train Station then dozed on the train to Hoboken and got on a big boat and dozed peacefully until we docked next to some really big buildings. I walked to a familiar one and am now testing a new release of a credit approval system and am posting here.
Ta da!
I was on a 6:50 departure from Watchung, and when we finally got to the Port Authority at 8:35, the driver said the dispatchers had not told him about the oil spill. He got off Rt. 3 on his own at Bloomfield, and got back on again at Main, to no avail. No one suggested he take 46 or I-80. So there’s no question there were some serious communications problems at DeCamp. Why would some drivers have gotten the word and not others who were out at the same time? And because they let some buses struggle in the traffic, they didn’t get enough buses back for the 2nd runs, leaving lots more people waiting for an hour or more
Deus ex machina, RoC. You of all people shouldn’t find that particular set of feelings to be disambiguous. And I used the Barista-approved terminolgy; you, however, may get demerits for your response. :>}
moving to the city feb 1st and not a moment too soon. sorry fellow decamp riders – I knew the commuting gods were going to give me one final F.U.
The driver of my 7:07 am 33 Grove had the foresight to take 80 and made it into the city in about 40 minutes. That said, I am dumbfounded as to why DeCamp is unwilling to offer information to all drivers. This detour was a no-brainer, considering the situation. Also, why in the world would decamp have an “alert service” yet never use it (the answer to that question, according to one dispatcher: Pard is the only one with access to the “alerts” but gets in late. They won’t even let us have computers at our desks”). Gary Pard used to respond to my emails. But I don’t think his decamp address works now. You may want to try garyppard@aol.com
It just took me 20 mins to get to the Parkway, see that it was at a stop, turn around and drive back (25 mins). So 45 mins for something that should have taken 10.
The wife was driving me to the train station this morning, and I was stressing about missing it, and she, never having been a commuter in these parts, naively said, “You can always take the bus,” and I said, “Ha ha ha ha ha HAHAHAH AHAHAHA HAHAHAH AAHAHAHAH AAHAH AHAHAHAH A AHA AH A A AH AH AHAH A HAH AHAHAHAW…”
I made the train.
i actually saw news of the fuel spill on rte 3 on nbc before 6:30am. i got on a bus on grove at 6:53 and the driver already knew to head up to the GSP N to 80 E to 495. we ended up getting in almost at the same time as usual. there was lots of chatter on his radio too. not sure why the drivers behind him didn’t know to do the same thing. i’m sure this issue was also posted on traffic reports online (ex: wcbs880.com).
is it the rider’s responsibility to tell the drivers how/where to drive? or shouldn’t the decamp dispatchers be watching those same websites and tv/radio stations? isn’t that exactly what their job should entail?
Wow Conan you call other people assho*es and you’re “delighted” someone else spun out and had an accident?