themicah

I've never taken public transit from Manhattan to the new EWR Terminal A.

Looking at the options:

• Newark Airport Express bus is about $21/person and goes to Terminal A. But it can get caught in traffic and there's no way to reserve a seat on a particular bus so if it's full you may have to wait up to 45 minutes for the next one.
• NJT train to EWR is $15.75/person followed by a free monorail ride. For Terminal C or B this isn't a bad option, but for Terminal A it's a long monorail ride (the airport website says 20 mins!) and the monorail doesn't even go all the way to Terminal A so it's another 5 minute bus ride or 14 minute walk after that. That doesn't seem very desirable.
• Via Newark Penn Station (NWK) there are a few options:
  • To get to NWK, you can either take NJT Rail from NY Penn for $5.25 or PATH from WTC for $2.75.
  • From NWK, you can take Bus 62 for $1.60/person, which appears to go directly to Terminal A, or you could take Uber/Lyft for about $20 (maybe less), which should be considerably faster (probably about 15 minutes vs. 30-45 mins for the bus).

mrsmicah and I have a flight today, and I'm leaning toward NJT to NWK followed by Uber/Lyft. Am I missing anything?

FlyinHawaiian

Sorry; can't help but I would also do PATH to NWK and then Taxi/Rideshare as my first choice so please let me know how it works out.

lrdpenn

Yes, you're on the right track, looking into skipping the Airtrain especially if going to terminal A.
With 2 people I would do what you are doing. The Airtrain fare is an extra ~$8/pp embedded in the NJT ticket, so barring surge pricing, its only a few dollars more (and you save on the bad airtrain experience) if you have 2 people.
The 62 bus is not a bad option - once on the bus it should be a bit faster than that. If traveling solo to A I would use the bus.

BTW: I have also been burned too many times by now on weekends or late nights with some type of unannounced airtrain diversion.

Petdog

PATH/NJT + Uber/Lyft is my preferred method.

PATH if you're coming from downtown--the line from the World Trade Center is the one that runs directly to Newark.

NJT if you'll be in midtown/closer to Penn.

This sums up most options quite nicely: https://new.mta.info/guides/airports/newark-ewr

Blumie

Help me out here: is there a new Terminal A that is not served by the AirTrain? Yet another reason to avoid EWR. Besides the fact that it’s in NJ.

FlyinHawaiian

Yep; big thread in the UA Forum discussing it; I believe Delta will be moving into it in a few months. UA's New EWR Terminal A: Security, How to get to, facilities, UC opened 28 June 2023

guv1976

Since none of us is getting younger, just want to point out that the age for the senior discount on NJTransit services is 62. NYP-NWK on the train is $2.50 for seniors; NWK-EWR on the Route 62 bus is 75¢ for seniors.

Repooc17

Allow for extra time if riding PATH + bus 62, especially on weekends. PATH on weekends consolidate from 4 lines into 2. Sometimes you can time it well with the bus transfer at Newark Penn but don't count on every time.

If I am going to Terminal A, for sure bus 62. For C, usually NJTransit + Airtrain, as it is the first terminal stop.

Also, get the NJTransit 10 pass if you use EWR somewhat regularly. Can save around $3/ride.

Blumie

How about AA?

guv1976

Although I'm not necessarily recommending it, there is yet another public transit option: the NJTransit Route 107 bus from the Port Authority Bus Terminal to the EWR Airport "North Area," and then a connecting go 28 or Route 37 bus (or Uber/Lyft) to Terminal A. If thinking about using this option, check the bus timetables in advance.

adhiren

Not months.....weeks away now

It's actually not that bad - particularly if it's a solo traveler. You can either walk or use the shuttle bus to the airtrain . I live in NJ so for me it's quite easy and straightforward and from my experience a lot better than what I've dealt with at JFK particularly at Terminal 1.

There's also the 67 bus you can get from Newark Penn Station.

themicah

The new EWR Terminal A has all AA, AC, and outbound B6 flights (B6 int'l arrivals come into terminal B) and a random assortment of UA flights. Flying UA domestic it's a bit of a crapshoot whether you get terminal A or C.

We ended up taking NJT to NWK and Lyft from there to Terminal A. There was a bit of a wait for a car, but even with that wait I think we got to Terminal A a little quicker (certainly not significantly slower) than if we'd taking the train to EWR and then the AirTrain (and either walked or taken the shuttle bus from there). Even with a generous tip, it cost almost exactly the same for two people as taking the train the whole way, and was definitely easier with luggage.

It seems so nuts that they built a new AirTrain station all the way at the end of the parking garage instead of using the existing Bombardier maintenance facility (which is much closer to Terminal A) as an AirTrain station. See Google Maps aerial view below.

Although I guess this is all just temporary until they wholesale replace the AirTrain with something new. I don't know how many years that's going to take, but the rendering on the future airtrain website shows the monorail stopping right outside Terminal A.

wahooflyer

I have taken the Newark Airport Express (Coach USA) from midtown to Terminal B several times this year. It's never been full when getting on at the stop near my office @ 42nd & 5th, but tends to fill up at the last stop outside the Port Authority. If coming from the east side this is the most convenient option to me. From the west side or downtown I'd do NJT/Path to Newark Penn and then the 62 bus...just have exact change or close to it for the bus as I don't think there is any way to pay for NJ local buses with a credit card (I could be wrong there)

Repooc17

Just buy a ticket from the app.

lrdpenn

How reliable have you found the Coach USA bus to EWR? I wanted to use it recently from Terminal A but was appalled at the on time performance that day (to their credit, they show the bus departure/arrival to schedule each day) that I decided to stick with the 62. Maybe it was an off day (Saturday?) It looked like they were just running 1-2 buses in circles and it arrived when it arrived.
As someone who minimizes time at airports, I would get pretty worried if the bus didnt show up at the Bryant Park stop on time because if it runs 15-30 mins late I'd have no other option to make it to EWR in time by then.

You can buy it through the NJTransit app but I wish first time users good luck with it. Having $2 (I think the exact regular adult fare is $1.60) is a better option.