Academy Bus

If I had money to start a bus company, I would invest every last penny til I was personally bankrupt in attempt to start a competing bus company to pit this horrible enterprise out of business.
Why doesn’t NJ transit just run routes to Wall Street?
There schedule is a joke, drivers rude, busses are decrepit and constantly break down with no recourse for the rider.
Making this route 9 bus commute for one year has caused me contemplate suicide on a daily basis. The real heroes of NY are the men and women who have been dealing this shit show for 20+ years.
Academy, go fuck yourself

Academy knows they can provide terrible service to people using the Wall Street busses since NJ transit doesn’t run to and from Wall Street. I think everyone on the Wall Street bus is fed up. The busses are never on time and the dispatcher never does their job to alert the next bus to come if one doesn’t show up. Three days ago, the 4:55 bus never came while the 5:15 bus was just waiting up ahead for their time and then consequently was too full to accommodate everyone. Two days ago, my bus broke down since the busses are never taken care of and the dispatcher said another bus would be there in 10 minutes and an hour passed and the bus still never came. I want my money back since I had to take an über home and for having to dangerously sit on the side of the highway for an hour. Today I am waiting here for my 4:35 bus and 35 minutes have passed.
Look at all these reviews… Learn how to run a business! Don’t advertise wifi when not one bus I have been on has it. Be on time Academy, make use of your dispatcher, lower your prices at least if you’re not going to improve your service and get us all home safely.

One word… HORROR. The commuters have been contacting State and Federal Regulators about this company. The service is worse than terrible and the Customer Service people are more than lacking. But then again why would they be polite to their customers — their customers have no choice but Academy– so when they thank us for our patronage we want to reach through the phone and slap them! The owners of the company sit on local and national transportation boards and are supposedly generous donors to both parties. Wonder why our complaints have been falling on deaf ears all these years?
Here are some of the complaints:
1. Pricing — they raise prices frequently and without cause (most recently $ 20 per month on a monthly pass);
2. They charge by the «Zone» as if they were NJ Transit! Every zone is a different price. They do not run like NJ Transit yet they charge as if they do. There is no weekend service or intra-​day service. People in Howell and Lakewood are disproportionately charged (discriminatory pricing);
3. Many of the buses are leased from NJ Transit for $ 5 per year — so our tax funded buses are being given to a multimillion dollar company gouging its ridership — we pay twice;
4. Every trip is a minimum of 2.5 hours to Howell and/​or Lakewood from Wall Street– many buses have no bathroom and Interstate commuters are entitled to clean bathrooms on every bus of interstate travel of 2 hours or more;
5. The drivers are always late, they do not take alternative routes when there are delays and are unresponsive to commuter concerns as are the dispatchers. Sometimes passengers are threatened by the drivers;
6. State Assemblywoman Jennifer Beck met with Tom Scullin of Academy in 2007 to discuss the commuters’ issues at Gordon’s Corner. The situation is worse 5 years later.
7. Academy uses commuter buses and drivers for their profitable Charters instead of meeting their commuter obligations;
8. Academy dispatchers authorize extra stops at night to accommodate Union Hill passengers at our expense;
9. We have pre-​paid passes yet dispatchers refuse to let a number of commuters board the bus at each of the three stops in lower Manhattan (the number varies week to week) so they can save seats for the next stop! We believe this practice is also illegal. If they didn’t use the drivers and buses they use on charters they might have enough buses and drivers for commuting;
10. Other companies have tried to provide Wall Street service in the past and have been physically blocked in a stop by Academy buses;
11. It is also our understanding that NJ Transit and Academy Bus entered into a verbal or written agreement for NJ Transit NOT to provide service to Wall Street;
12. Academy creates its own propaganda by placing fictitious ads in the Asbury Park Press by so called satisfied commuters. The drivers and dispatchers told us about this laughing about how Academy gets over.
13. Academy has a contract with NJ Transit to provide service from Port Authority. They make all their schedules or they get fined — it is amazing when there are no consequences they get there when they get there! They leave on schedule (full or empty) from the Port and they get paid for a full bus. Amazing how their seats downtown are all paid and yet we can’t leave on schedule! The overcrowding is terrible. They will squeeze 5 large adults in the back seat made for 4. We have complained hundreds of times to no avail. Want to live longer? AVOID riding Academy Bus!
We NEED New Jersey to step in and provide us with another bus company to compete with Academy. Monopolies are illegal! We really need a train but in over 100 years they haven’t figured that out yet either!
Want to spend 20 hours plus a week on a filthy slow hot/​cold bus to get to work? Want to be disrespected by drivers and dispatchers YOU pay with your pre-​paid fares? Want to pay almost $ 400 per month for this privilege? Want buses that are not maintained properly? Ride Academy Bus from Lakewood to Wall Street. If your intestines are not in a knot in a week you are either dead or like to be abused. If I could give them a minus 10,000 stars I would!