Way off topic Manhattan Transportation Help needed asap

College Majors Musical Theater Major
1

<p>Hi-</p>

<p>My D needs to come home tomorrow for an emergency. She will need transportation from the Port Authority Bus Terminal to JFK.</p>

<p>Can anyone tell me the best way to get from one to the other, please? And how much time should I allow for her to get to the airport from the bus terminal. Is a taxi the best way? Any idea how much it will cost? Anything else we should know? She will be making the return trip on the weekend, so if there is different info for that, please let me know too.</p>

<p>Thank you for any info you can provide.</p>

2

<p>I'm not an expert by any means but I had to look into this recently. There's an airport bus that leaves from Port Authority -- I think it's every half hour or so. It's $15 each way. There's the airtrain (subway) also, but if she's not familiar with the subway system, the bus may be better?... I'm not sure about taxi's. I recall them being somewhere in the $40 range.</p>

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<p>Thanks...she is not up to subway travel yet, I will try to find out more about the airport shuttle. That is exactly what she needs.</p>

4

<p>AMQ --</p>

<p>There is a bus from Port Authority but I would highly recommend the following:</p>

<p>-- Take the escalators to the basement of Port Authority, following the Subway signs. Tell her to purchase a Metrocard with $7.00 on it (if she's returning the same way, tell her to purchase more -- you get $2 free when buying $10, I believe). She can do this at a machine, with cash or credit/debit card. The machines are right at the bottom of the escalators, just before the entrances to the subway walkways.</p>

<p>-- Look for the A, C, E Lines -- following the signs that say Downtown/Brooklyn</p>

<p>-- She's only going one stop -- she gets off the subway at 34th Street/Penn Station and follows the signs for LIRR (Long Island Railroad). This short ride uses $2.00 of her $7.00 MetroCard.</p>

<p>-- Almost every train stops at Jamaica, and the price is $5.00 Off Peak, $7.00 Peak (rush hour). There's a $5.00 surcharge if she buys the ticket on the train. Not a big deal in an emergency. The MetroCard doesn't work on LIRR (that I know of). She needs a separate ticket -- there are machines everywhere, or she can go to a window, or just pay on the train (extra $5).</p>

<p>-- It takes about 20 minutes to get to Jamaica. Here are sample schedules:</p>

<p>Departs 10:42 AM Arrives 11:02 AM Off Peak
Departs 10:46 AM Arrives 11:06 AM Off Peak
Departs 11:00 AM Arrives 11:22 AM Off Peak </p>

<p>To see the full schedule, use this website and just select "From Penn Station To Jamaica."</p>

<p><a href="http://lirr42.mta.info/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://lirr42.mta.info/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>-- Once she gets to Jamaica, she just follows the signs to AirTrain. It is VERY well market. She will then use the same MetroCard she purchased for the subway to pay $5.00 to get to JFK.</p>

<p>Once on the train, there are huge posters that show which terminal she needs. The train stops at every terminal (there are about 9 of them).</p>

<p>I know this may seem overwhelming to someone from California, but believe me -- it's very very easy. And, most importantly, reliable. There is a TON of construction on the highway that goes to JFK (I was just there two weeks ago -- it took me 1.5 hours to get from the airport to mid-town in a taxi, and 45 minutes to get there via the subway/LIRR/AirTrain route.) </p>

<p>Good luck -- I hope the emergency is not too bad.</p>

5

<p>Hadn't read your "she's not up to the subway" post before I posted the above. Here's the website for the bus:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.nyairportservice.com/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.nyairportservice.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>She needs to allow at least 2 hours ...</p>

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<p>Do you know about "Supershuttle?" Very good and inexpensive--
<a href="http://www.supershuttle.com/htm/cities/mia.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.supershuttle.com/htm/cities/mia.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>I'm not a New Yorker and these guys are helping you with the available public transportation.</p>

<p>However, as a parent of a kid who had never lived in NYC and wasn't familiar with the subway system a couple times when she went there, I would not have relied on her finding public transportation. I would have had her take a taxi to the airport but that is just me for my piece of mind. </p>

<p>Now that she does live in NYC, she takes subways ALL the time, including today to her voice lesson. However, when she flies home and back to school in NYC, she takes a taxi to and from the airport. It costs about $40 one way. Yes, it is expensive. It takes about 30 min. I feel particularly for a teen UNFAMILIAR with the subways and busses in NYC, I was comfortable with her taking trains, busses and planes into the city and out (and she had done that many times) but not within the city and thus would use a taxi for your D to get from the bus station to the airport, and if alone. </p>

<p>Sorry to not be more helpful like the others, but just sharing how my child goes to the airport and back now and also did before she started living in NYC. It also may be quicker and you know she'll make the plane or bus in either direction.</p>

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<p>soozie and others, I appreciate all the info. I am going to send her a link so she can read all of her options and make an informed decision. She is definately not a city kid, and although she traveled through the city on her own a couple of weeks ago, I think for this trip simple will be best. I will let her decide what sounds the simplest.</p>

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<p>It's almost never quicker to take a taxi or the bus to JFK on a weekday between the hours of 8:00 AM and 7:00 PM. When I'm doing it, I'm on business more often than not, so money is definitely not an issue. It's just that it's significantly less stressful to know you're going to be in the terminal 40 minutes after you board the LIRR train. Once you're in that taxi, on the other hand, there's no going back (although, I have had taxi's drop me at Jamaica when I've made a bad "taxi" decision).</p>

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<p>Correct Link for Supershuttle in NYC
<a href="http://www.supershuttle.com/htm/cities/nyc.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.supershuttle.com/htm/cities/nyc.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>The easiest way is to take one of the airport shuttle buses directly from Port Authority to JFK. Flat fee. Point A to point B. </p>

<p>Tell her to ask a uniformed police officer exactly where they are located. I am not trying to be alarmist, it's just that Port Authority is HUGE and they will be the most helpful to a young college student.</p>

<p>I believe the airport shuttles pick up/drop off on 42nd Street between 8th and 9th avenues. At the southwest corner. But don't quote me on it. </p>

<p>Kim</p>

12

<p>thank you everyone.</p>