Why Pay to Park in Cape May When You Can Jitney Free
In a Memorial Day blog post I mentioned the new Atlantic City Jitney service rolling out by the City of Cape May and the Chamber of Commerce. It’s here. Why pay to park in Cape May when you can jitney free?
This service might be the best thing to happen in Cape May since offering free beach tags for veterans. An outcome of the Parking Advisory Committee and paid for, in part, by the $1.00 increase of performance parking, Cape May now has a free public transportation system.
The service will run seven days a week beginning June 21st from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. through September 2, 2019. The jitney will run two routes—a designated Beach Avenue route and an “Around Town” route that includes service to the Washington Street Mall, Welcome Center, Convention Hall, Coast Guard Base and many other popular stops.
“Friday we took the Jitney from across the street at the snack stand/comfort station (on Broadway) up to Harry’s for a late lunch. It was awesome!” Jenny Sword of Timonium, Mayland, staying at the Sea Crest Inn on Broadway said in a comment on Facebook.
“We always strive to offer the best City services possible for our residents and visitors,” stated Mayor Chuck Lear regarding the new, free jitney service. “Kudos to the Parking Advisory Committee for their creative due diligence in studying new ways to approach Cape May’s parking issues. The weekend trial runs for the new Jitney service have garnered useful insights and a great deal of positive feedback. It is notable that the jitney are ADA-compliant and climate-controlled with zero gas emissions in keeping with our environmental focus.”
Real Time Jitney Use
The jitney stops and routes are highlighted in the new brochure which was distributed at the ribbon cutting ceremony. The Jitney Surfer App is also a new feature that allows patrons to view the location of the jitney on their smart phones and also alerts drivers for a pick up. The App is available now on Google Play and the App Store.
Checking in at the Sea Crest Inn on Broadway, two guests were handed the new map. They proceeded to board the Jitney bound for downtown. “We walked the mall, did some shopping and dined at Delaney’s” they said. “We plan to do it all again tomorrow.”
Again, why pay to park in Cape May when you can Jitney free? Innkeepers, let’s share and not let our guests be ticketed.
Excited about this fantastic new service. Thank you for your always-great reporting, John. Appreciate all the details, and it was fun and informative to watch the ribbon-cutting video. Congratulations and thank you to Mayor Chuck Lear and the City of Cape May for instituting this.
Hi! I don’t have a Smartphone, just a dumbphone. How can I find stops near me? I’m arriving by bus Saturday & would love to ride over to Grant Ave.
Author
Joanne, when you get off the bus go inside the welcome center say hi to Craig and get a printed map. The phone is purely optional.
You say “why pay to park in Cape May” and that is certainly my motto. Is there a free parking lot outside of town that is on the jitney’s route?
Author
East of Madison avenue and at the elementary school parking lot is free.
Hi John, Jitney? What Jitney?? I was actually going to suggest you write about the new Jitney, however in a different way. During a great four day Cape May stay last week, I was looking forward to the new Jitney to expand the distance I could cover around town without moving my car. The hotel recommended it but had not yet received the schedule, just info that the Jitney was supposed to stop at the elementary school and at Washington Street Mall, but in spite of trying to get more accurate information, they were unable to. They made several calls in my presence, including speaking to someone at MAC, and no one could give them any info as to reaching the Jitney, what the schedule was or just where it would be stopping. So, I walked into town and while there I stopped at the MAC INFO Booth at the end of the Washington Street Mall. They too had no information and said that in the four hours they had been there that day, they had not seen the Jitney pass once or stop in the distance. They had no printed map, nor were they aware of one. There was also no mention of an App. They did not know of an actual schedule or the stops… and this was the Cape May MAC INFO Booth! This was very disappointing. If anyone can get to the bottom of this, I know you can. What is the secret to getting a schedule and actually finding the Jitney?! The closest thing I saw was a Collier’s Liquor shuttle…. perhaps I should have pretended to be inebriated! LOL!!!
Author
It’s all incredibly brand new. I don’t know why they couldn’t find the infor. But thus the blog because I wanted the info more wide spread. You can get the brochure online right here.
Tried to retrieve the schedule…none available
Here in town on July 8 and all this is still the case. We have the brochure with just a map x no schedule, we’ve actually seen the vehicle randomly. We’ve downloaded the amateurish app, but we still can’t find a schedule to save our lives, nor does it permit hailing. Here with little kids and don’t want to stand on a corner waiting in vain. How long will this effort be in test mode???
Author
I won’t argue the technology. Sometimes it works other times not. There is definitely a signal deficiency here in Cape May. The best I can tell you is it runs continually every 10 minutes or so, and you can wave to them at most any corner.
I hope it keeps improving, and I hope you and the kiddos have a great vacation. Appreciate you reading.
Is it accessible? Wheelchair accessible? City of Cape May often hides behind the historical argument to deny accessibility to a federal post office and public transportation free to all needs to be accessible to everyone .
Author
Deb they are all ADA compliant and run on natural gas.
Thank you John for the helpful information. This is surely needed. What happens when the school lot fills up?
Thanks for publicizing this, John! I hope it gets a lot of support and becomes a favorite alternative mode of transport.
By any chance does it stop at Nauti Spirits Distillery or Cape May Winery????
Thank you!
Author
Not at this time. The Chamber of Commerce website has the full list of destinations.
HI, We are new residents of North Cape May. Our house is within walking distance to the Ferry. Does the Jitney pickup and drop-off at the ferry?
Thanks,
De
Author
Hello Denise, welcome to the neighborhood. The Jitney only runs withing he city limits. There is a free shuttle the ferry offers to the welcome center. But it may only be for foot passengers.