9. New Train Station
NEW TRAIN STATION
Plauderville Station is a New Jersey Transit train station served by Bergen County Line trains. While regarded by NJ Transit as being solely in Garfield, New Jersey, parts of the station in fact are in neighboring Saddle Brook. The border between the city of Garfield and the township of Saddle Brook passes through the station’s boarding platforms while the majority of the property- including the station’s parking lots- and the street the station is named for is in Garfield. Plauderville Station is located along Midland Avenue in Garfield and is named for Plauderville Avenue, the street that terminates at Midland Avenue just behind the Hoboken-bound platform.
Like the other station in Garfield, Plauderville is a limited service station used mostly by commuters to Hoboken. Service to Hoboken ends in the early afternoon while return trips continue all day, ending in the early morning hours. Starting in 2009, with money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, New Jersey Transit got funds to construct high-level platforms at Plauderville on the south side of Midland Avenue. Trains used the low-level platform until October 10, 2011, when trains were moved to the completed high-level platforms. This construction adds Plauderville to the list of stations on the Bergen County Line in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, along with Rutherford station and Glen Rock’s Boro Hall station.
The current Plauderville station is located on Midland Avenue in Saddle Brook and Garfield, New Jersey. It is designed with two low-level platforms on the north side of Midland Avenue. The station has 259 parking spaces divided among three different free parking lots owned by New Jersey Transit. The first and largest lot is next to where the current high-level platforms are being built, contains 224 parking spaces, seven of which are accessible for handicap persons. The second is located on Midland Avenue and Hartman Street, serving as 21 extra spaces, but these are not handicap-accessible. The final parking lot is located on Outwater Lane at the Henrietta Road junction, containing 14 parking spaces near the in-construction inbound platform. None are handicap-accessible. Two ticket vending machines are provided on the inbound platform, along with bicycle racks. The station receives stops from two buses maintained by New Jersey Transit Bus Operations, including the 160, which serves Port Authority Bus Terminal from its impetus at Elmwood Park, New Jersey during rush hours. The 758 also serves Plauderville station on its way between Passaic Bus Terminal in Passaic to the malls in Paramus.
One of the barriers to walking and biking as means for transportation is safety. As a concern for both adults and children, education on road safety is a top priority. In conjunction with Safe Routes to School (SRTS) the City of Garfield initiated the “Get Up and Go”, an eight-part series of curriculum based SRTS activities, was featured in both The Record and The Herald newspapers in fall 2007. The “Get Up and Go” program not only helps students in Garfield, it is estimated that this special newspaper insert reached more than 30,000 students and their parents in the North Jersey area. Garfield also added a new partner, Rutgers 4 H extension through Rutgers University, and is presently working on a plan for a community gardening and nutrition project, which will combine physical activity and healthy lifestyle habits. These projects naturally align with SRTS, and provide opportunities to further institutionalize SRTS within the community.
Get Up and Go also provides lesson plans for both parents and schools to help educate students on road safety. Please visit these sites to see examples what Get Up and Go is using to get children involved and engaged: