A surprisingly easy ride into New York during the Pope’s visit

NJ Transit and other transit agencies say their system have been running smoothly as the faithful file into New York for the papal visit.

Spokesman Ken Miller told NJ 101.5 most heeded the advice to stay away from Manhattan and work from home or take the day off as overall ridership was down for a Friday.

Ridership on its trains was down by half according to Miller, buses were off 25-30%, the RiverLINE was down 15-20% and the Hudson Bergen Light Rail as lower by 20%. Newark Light Rail had normal ridership

Most ticketholders for Pope Francis'  6 p.m. Mass at Madison Square Garden were in New York by early afternoon.  Another 80,000 are expected to line the route in Central Park Miller added that traffic to their social media platforms and mobile apps.

Extra service will be added on Friday night following the Mass with NJ Transit "customer service ambassadors" positioned around Penn Station.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey says traffic on its tunnels and bridges into the city between 6 a.m. and noon Friday was 14 percent lighter than usual for a Friday in September.  It was nearly 31 percent lighter than usual eastbound at the Holland and Lincoln tunnels. Traffic crossing the George Washington Bridge was 11 percent lighter than usual.

A Port Authority spokesman said the early-morning PATH commute was lighter than usual as well.

NJ Transit also announced that Papal Passes will be on sale Saturday and Sunday for the Atlantic City Line and the RiverLINE to get into Philadelphia from the Trenton Transit Center, Florence and Pennsauken. Tickets purchased online do not require printed tickets but can be shown on mobile devices. Regular tickets, including monthly passes, MyTix and Family SuperSaver, are not valid on these days.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

Here’s how you can keep up with all the latest news from New Jersey 101.5 as it happens:

• Keep an eye on our special Pope visit coverage page, which we’ll be updating all week with live video, traffic updates, reactions from local leaders and much more.
• Listen to New Jersey 101.5 on your radio dial, or online at NJ1015.com. Mobile users: Download Radiopup to listen any time from your Android or iOS device.
• Follow New Jersey 101.5 on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
• Text TRAFFIC or NEWS to 89000 for traffic and news alerts.

And you can contribute, too! Be extra eyes and ears in the crowd. Is the traffic overwhelming? Is the walk from Camden to Philadelphia going as planned? Let us know by:

• Tagging @nj1015 on Twitter and @nj101.5 on Instagram.
• Calling in to 800-283-1015.
• Emailing newsjerz@nj1015.com.

Want to share lots and lots of news? Email us at newsjerz@nj1015.com before Friday with the words “pope visit” in the subject to make arrangements to get in touch throughout the visit.