Clockwork Commute: One Passaic County woman’s weekly journey into Manhattan
A Wayne woman’s weekly commute to Manhattan shows the time, trade-offs and routine behind the ride.
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Think about your daily commute. Now imagine doing the exact same trip every week—for years.
That’s the reality for one Passaic County woman, whose routine trip into Manhattan has become a finely tuned part of her daily life.
Three days a week, like clockwork, Lauren Pinto boards the New Jersey Transit 193 bus outside the Willowbrook Mall in Wayne.
"It's routine... just like brushing your teeth. Just another thing to do in the morning," Pinto says.
Pinto has been taking the bus for the past five years, but she has been commuting for more than a decade.
She makes the trip—timing it down to the minute. What’s supposed to be a 36-minute bus ride, she says, is often much longer.
"This is a little extra red, we will hit the bus lane right over [Interstate] 95, so that will help, but it will still be an hour, though," says Pinto.
It’s not just the morning commute that’s tough.
"There's no bus lane coming home...It's an hour and a half easy door to door," Pinto says. "If I leave my office at 45th and 6th at 5 p.m. on the dot and I walk very quickly, I am in a line by 5:16 p.m. I will not get home before 6:40 p.m....It's New York/New Jersey, it's congested. There's no way around it."
Despite the long hours, Pinto says some trade-offs make taking the bus worthwhile.
"The idea of sitting in traffic, gas, tolls, having to be completely aware of everyone around me on the road, and I'm sitting here, my emails are cleaned out. I can take a little catnap if I want. I will be at the mercy of NJ Transit, just for the convenience of it," Pinto says.
After more than an hour on the bus, the ride into Port Authority is only part of the journey. Pinto still has a nearly three-quarter-mile walk to her office.
She says the most difficult part of commuting isn’t just the distance—it’s the time lost, especially in the evenings.
"It's time, especially on the way home, where I'm not with family, and they are on the receiving end of a really bad commute," she says.
For Pinto, commuting isn’t just about getting from point A to point B. It’s a rhythm—filled with familiar faces, daily routines and occasional delays. While it may seem like a lot, she says she’s learned to embrace it.
"Necessary evil. It's not the worst thing in the world, you get used to it," Pinto says. "Some people even enjoy it. I like my time in the morning sometimes. I just wish it wasn't at 7 a.m."
By the time she reaches Midtown, her 1-hour-and-20-minute commute is finally behind her. She says it’s more than just a routine—it’s the clock that keeps her week on track.
