i am sure this has been discussed before, but i might be commuting between philadelphia (walking distance to 30th street st) and the new york mercantile exchange in the world financial center. two options of which i am already aware are: 1) drive to colgate ferry in jersey city and take the 6 minute fery to the center and 2) take amtrak to newark and path to the center. option 1 is much cheaper as the ferry is $3.50/1 way and cheaper by the month with free parking at the station vs. $98 amtrak roundtrip (i don't know if there is a monthly or volume discount) plus the path fee. choice 2 is significantly quicker and easier. are there any other viable alternatives that somebody could bring to my attention? thank you in advance for your much appreciated help.

You can take SEPTA train (R7) from 30th St station to Trenton. At Trento, change for the NJ Transit train to NY Penn station.
Each way takes approximately 2hr 30 mins.
Costs is about $30 ($14 for SEPTA & $16 for NJT). There should be a discount if you buy a monthly-pass. But we're still looking at a 5hr+ commute roundtrip.

The cost ($30) I quoted above is for Roundtrip.

thank you. how close is ny penn station to the new york mercantile exchange in the world financial center?

Penn Station is nowhere near WFC. You would need to trek through the station, then take the subway downtown - probably another 20 minutes plus the $2 (for now) fare - IMHO not a good choice.

I think it's also about quality of life. Do you really want to drive all the way to Jersey City everyday (and back at night) when you could be sitting on a train resting or working?

mike t,

i agree with your analysis. i was just wondering if there is another idea. the 2nd alternative is over $100/day -- which i may end up choosing, but it doesn't hurt to see if there is something a little less convenient that would save money. does anybody know if amtrak has monthly or volume discounts for this route?

The Amtrak also drops you off at NY Penn Station, same as the NJ Transit. The Amtrak will save you about 2 hrs roundtrip, but costs 3x the SEPTA/NJT combo. Whether the 2 extra hours/day is more important or the $70/day you'll save is your decision.

Other options include:
Taking Greyhound (about 2hrs) which drops you off at Port Authority
or
Chinatown bus (also about 2 hrs, and only $20 roundtrip) which drops you off in NY Chinatown - which is closer to WFC than the other options.

I am against the Chinatown bus as my parents have taken it before and had a bad experience, but many people take it everyday.

actually i would take amtrak to newark and the path to the wfc, thus avoiding penn station.

I think 100/day is a little steep to commute to work. I would have to agree with yk and recommend taking the Septa train from the 30th St. Station to Trenton and then a NJ Transit train to Newark Penn Station instead of New York Penn Station. You can then take the PATH train ($3.00 roundtrip) from Newark Penn Station to the World Trade Center station.

From what I can tell, you can purchase a monthly pass that will be good for the trip from Philadelphia to Newark for $291. I am not certain if that is good for a roundtrip so you may have to contact Septa if you are interested in that option.

Like yk said, the biggest negative in doing this is the long commute time.

Septa-NJ Transit Fare Webpage:
http://www.septa.org/fares/nj_transit.html

Doh, I guess I posted a little late.

thank you all for your help so far. i am looking into the chinatown bus -- might be a good compromise.. slight problem is i have 1 1/2 mi walk to bus station in philly and about 1 2/3 mi from chinatown to the nymex. this would add about 50 min to my commute unless i take a cab or find a bus/subway to get there. septa/nj transit/path idea might be a good compromise as well. i have to check out the total commute time. the good thing is that the trading day is only 5 hours there so i could withstand a little extra commute.

I don't know where you are located in Philadelphia, but SEPTA has several stops in Center City Philadelphia where you can pick R7 up.
If you go the Chinatown route, you can still take either the subway or a bus to Chinatown instead of walking.

You could rent a place in N. New Jersey for less than $98/day (x20 = $1960/month) couldn't you?

What about a compromise of driving up to, say, Princeton Jct. and taking the NJT train from there? That saves you the hassle of connecting to the Septa train in Trenton...

Andrew