By Donald Wittkowski, OCNJDAILY
Those eye-catching lime green and white jitneys that ply the streets of Ocean City during the summer tourism season will be back again this year.
At only $3 per ride, the jitneys offer cheap and convenient public transportation for passengers heading to the Boardwalk or along a route serving the city’s senior centers.
City Council is expected at its meeting Thursday to extend the Atlantic City Jitney Association’s contract for the shuttle service this summer for $92,225. The Atlantic City Jitney Association has been the contractor ever since Ocean City launched the service in 2022.
“The ACJA has been the City’s provider for this service over the past three years and their performance has been beyond satisfactory,” Dan Kelchner, director of Ocean City Community Services, wrote in a memo attached to the Council agenda.
Kelchner added that the jitneys have been reliable, consistent and greeted with “overwhelmingly positive” reviews by riders.
The fare, routes and service parameters will remain the same this summer as in 2024, he said.
Kelchner did not say in the memo when the service will begin this year. In 2024, the Boardwalk route launched during the Memorial Day weekend and transitioned into daily service from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. beginning on June 21 until Sept. 2.
Jitney service for 2025 will continue to offer inexpensive rides up to the Boardwalk.
The Boardwalk route starts at 55th Street and West Avenue in the island’s south end and runs a continuous loop to Battersea Road and back using 14th Street as a crossover. There is easy jitney access to the Boardwalk from Ninth Street, Ocean Avenue and Atlantic Avenue.
Jitneys also run along a “Senior Centers Route” that services the city’s senior-citizen housing locations or assisted-living facilities. They include Wesley by the Bay, Speitel Commons, Bayview Manor, UMC at the Shores and 500 Bay.
According to Kelchner’s memo, ridership data from 2024 has prompted the city to reduce the total number of jitneys on the Senior Centers Route by 50 percent this summer.
A copy of the Council resolution for the jitney contract shows that the Seniors Center Route will operate on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Kelchner said in his memo that the contract gives the city the flexibility to revise routes, change the number of jitneys or alter service times as needed.
Since its inception, the jitney service has been touted by the city as low cost and convenient public transportation that relieves passengers of the hassle of trying to find public parking during the busy summer tourism season.
The impetus for jitney service was a 2019 economic development study that recommended more public transportation in Ocean City.
This map shows the continuous jitney loop between 55th Street and Battersea Road.
