This morning, I rode New Jersey Transit to Newark International Airport, which is about 12 miles from my home in Madison. I ended up not flying anywhere, but that’s another story.

Things have changed. The last time I took New Jersey Transit from my home to the airport was years ago, and it was simple. I took the train from Madison to Newark—Broad Street, then walked downstairs and hopped on the Airlink bus, which stopped at Newark—Penn Station and then Terminal B.

Transportation to the airport is modern now. You don’t have to ride on a bus at all. You take the train from Madison to Newark—Broad Street, just like before, then you walk downstairs (like before) and (this part is new) you hop on the new New Jersey light rail at Broad Street. Newark—Penn Station is the third and final stop of the one-mile trip, and the light rail is almost twice as fast as walking. (You can see the route here. Just don’t miss the fact that up is west on the map.) Once you’re at Newark—Penn Station, you take the next New Jersey transit train that stops at the new Newark Airport station. I arrived on a Monday at 9:25 am and the next train was at 9:57. That takes you to the airport’s Airlink terminal, where you wait for the monorail, board the monorail, and hop off at your terminal.

I liked the old way, with one train ride and one bus ride. Now it’s four train rides: rail, light rail, rail, and monorail. The monorail is great, by the way. Ride it if you ever have the opportunity. I sometimes ride on it just for fun.

The other three trains aren’t free, and while that’s fine, you’d think that since they are all New Jersey transit trains, the way you use a ticket might be the same for each of them. Nope. On the first train, you stick your ticket in the little clip on the seat in front of you, and the conductor takes it and keeps it. On the second train, you validate it by sticking it into a special machine, and then you keep it in case the conductor asks to look at it. (I knew about this scheme, having once been fined on the Paris commuter rail for not having failed to composter my ticket. See this page.) On the third train, you stick your ticket in the little clip on the seat in front of you, but the conductor doesn’t take it. You take it when you leave, because you need it to get through the exit turnstile at the airport station. (This system is unique to the aiport station, because it costs more to go there than it does to go to points further down the line. They don’t want people to buy cheaper tickets and jump ship at the airport.) I didn’t take mine, but fortunately there’s a nice lady at the airport station who will let you out if you can convince her you’re just a bonehead and aren’t trying to scam the system.