bman1002

Hey all,

I know this is not the best idea, but this is the situation I am in :-)

Going from EWR to Great Neck on a weekday night. I see that it can be an hour to two outside of rush hour. Will it be practical to find an Uber at 9 or 10 PM or so on a weekday night to do this?

Often1

Yes, but. Drivers may choose to turn down long rides such as this and it is more than likely that most drivers do not want to take trip such as this as the return will almost certainly be a deadhead. Thus, even though EWR is full of Ubers, you may wait quite a while to find a willing driver.

A better alternative is one of the lower-end car services such as DIAL7. Generally more of a hassle and wait than an Uber, but not in this instance. All kinds of options for type of vehicle and that will determine price. You will also have a driver who will have GPS but is not 100% reliant on it as an EWR-area driver is likely to be in Great Neck.

guv1976

Are you not able/willing to make the trip by train?

bman1002

That is my plan B. Thats how I plan to get back during the day though on my return trip.

guv1976

On weeknights, the LIRR operates roughly every half hour from NY Penn to Great Neck; trip time is roughly 35 minutes.

If there are decent NJ Transit departure times from EWR to Penn, then unless you are traveling with checked baggage, I would seriously consider making the EWR-Great Neck trip by train. It will be a little more schlepping, but it will be far cheaper than a taxi/car service, and might end up taking about the same amount of time -- depending on road conditions.

RooseveltL

Strongly agree with last post.
Depending how long it takes to get to the NJ Transit platform (due to AirTrain and purchase your ticket). If you boarded a NJT at 9:21pm (alt 9:00pm or 9:43pm) it would arrive NY Penn at 9:48pm. The next train leaving Penn would be 10:11 arriving Great Neck 10:46pm. There is a 9:48pm from Penn but too difficult to make it from NJT over to LIRR tracks with baggage within minutes but that earlier would arrive Great Neck at 10:23pm.
Due to location of Great Neck (North Shore) driving from EWR without traffic would take 1 hr (big assumption no traffic or construction/slow down)

guv1976

OP: Depending on when you arrive at EWR, you might be able to save several dollars by taking the NJTransit Route 62 bus from your terminal to Newark Penn Station, instead of taking the AirTrain to EWR Rail Station. The bus fare is only $1.60, and the trip from the airport to Newark Penn Station takes about 15-20 minutes.

Google "NJTransit Route 62 PDF" to see the bus schedule. NJ Transit also has a "My Bus Now" bus tracker

https://mybusnow.njtransit.com/bustime/home.jsp​​​​​​

that would let you see exactly when the next bus to Newark Penn Station would depart from your terminal. You could check that once you were off the plane to help you decide whether to take the bus or the AirTrain.

I wouldn't consider the bus if it meant missing an earlier train to Manhattan. But if you're going to end up on the same NJTransit train anyway, the bus is a reasonable option.

By taking the bus, you could get from EWR to Great Neck for $16.10, total (about $8 less than if you used the AirTrain).

bman1002

Thank you everyone, I appreciate the different ideas/options.

RooseveltL

This is excellent advice which I don't typically suggest to tourist as they may not feel as comfortable on the bus going via downtown Newark (entirely safe and used by cabin crew frequently along with ground staff). But, from a time efficiency it can result in a sooner NJ Transit train and significantly cheaper. Sort of a win-win vs. waiting at Newark Airport NJT platform watching NYC bound trains bypass you.

bman1002

No issues with traveling through NJ. Seen plenty of the good and bad there! Just never been to LI before :-).

ijgordon

You're in for a treat!

bman1002

I liked it much better than I thought I would

I did manage to get Uber/Lyft both ways. EWR to LI was roughly $80 and LI to EWR was $90, not including tips.