Originally Posted by
iflyalexair
It takes 19 minutes on the LIRR from Jamaica Airtrain Station to Penn Station. It's only a few dollars more than the E train.
Part of the difficulty with EWR, as others have mentioned, is if you are not going to take public transit. EWR originating cabs to the city aren't cheap with the trans-Hudson tolls. I live in Brooklyn, and I avoid EWR like the plague. A cab or car service easily runs $80-100, plus the concerns of tunnel traffic make it a risky option. Also, the train connections aren't particularly convenient unless you're going to Penn Station or willing to hop on the PATH to downtown. For me to get to Brooklyn by train from EWR is: Airtrain to NJ Transit to Midtown and a long subway ride to BK or Airtrain to NJ Transit to PATH to shorter subway ride. JFK to Brooklyn is a $35 car service.
I live on the UWS, and the last time I flew into EWR, the cab ride home cost me $120, plus tip. Steep, you say? I agree. But the cab driver insisted that was the price. I was absolutely exhausted, after a day of weather delays that had turned what should have been a couple of short hops (FLL-CLT-EWR) into a day-long nightmare. Add to that the fact that I had developed a migraine and I was further muddled. So I gave him the $120, and gave him a tip on top of that. Later on, I realized he had included his tip as part of the $120, so I tipped twice. I felt like a fool, but as I had a headache that was not fully under control and was nauseated from the migraine, I was not in a position to beat myself up too much.