This bus company has a monopoly on a good chunk of the bus service available to Monmouth County and Ocean County, NJ. They've somehow also managed to finagle a contract with NJ Transit to offer service on certain runs of the 139 service from the Port Authority, down the Route 9 corridor, from Old Bridge to Marlboro, Manalapan, Freehold, Howell, Jackson, and Lakewood. (You know something is wrong when the government offers a better and cheaper service than a private concern). Wall Street bus service to the Route 9 corridor is exclusively offered by Academy, and on a recent occasion, I was anticipating a Coach USA/Suburban Transit bus from Wall Street to Monroe Township, but surprisingly, an Academy Bus rolled up. What is it with this company? Which executive sold his soul to the devil, stepped in dog crap, and somehow managed to get so damn lucky? Anyhow, unless you subscribe to tickets, the drivers REFUSE to make change, if you have to pay cash. You MUST have exact change when taking the bus, if you must use cash. The run to Manalapan (Gordon's Corner) costs several dollars more than a NJ Transit trip from midtown on the 139 (there's no good reason why the Wall Street service should be $17.50, compared to $13.75 from Port Authority), although the same exact stops in NJ are being made. An on-board water closet doesn't justify the markup, nor does the WiFi that NEVER, EVER works (good luck trying to connect to the alleged Academy WiFi network. I'm still not convinced it works). Also, on many a Friday afternoon, it will often take 45 minutes-1 hour just to get to the Holland Tunnel. Why not instead go through Brooklyn and Staten Island, and get on the 440, which will promptly get you onto Route 9? It seems like a convoluted route, but it can save hours in traffic one incurs when trying to cram dozens of NJ and PA bound Wall Street express buses and scores of automobiles through one measly tube. Just a suggestion. One of my biggest beefs with this company is as follows: I called on the day of the Ticker Tape Parade for the women's soccer team to ask how this would affect the 3:30 bus to Manalapan. After 3 back and forth, hemming and hawing conversations, they finally connect me to some dispatcher who tells me that all runs until 5 pm would not be starting from the first stop, but that service would only be available from the last stop in Manhattan, at Worth Street. So I responsibly waited for the bus at the stop there, with a mob of folks who were given the same information, and then when the bus finally pulls up, it's already crowded! The dispatcher was either ignorantly misinformed, deceptive, or both. I waited in the open sun at that stop for no reason whatsoever, when I could have just boarded by Trinity Place, where the bus from Brooklyn exactly lets out. This was a major inconvenience and an unnecessary suffering inflicted on me by this company. read more

They didn't give me back my money have 4 months. Bad dispatch and customer service. If I could, I'd give 0 stars.

No problems on the way there. The way back was awful. I looked up the schedule on the website and went to the Casino it said at 12:30. I tried calling but no customer service on the weekends. Guy said they no longer pick up go to Caesars. It was on the departure board. 20 minutes before pickup woman working there told me nope, pick up from Taj at 3. Walked there. Waited in line forever. Bus came at 3:40. Picked up more from Resorts. Full bus. NO BATHROOM. Stopped at the rest stop and the EXTREMELY rude driver (extremely fat black guy) said we had 6 minutes to go to the bathroom tomorrow was his day off he didn't care he'd leave us. And he did. He left one woman's husband and an 85 year old lady who needed a walker to get around. Just really unbelievable. He was mad he hadn't had a break. "i don't care, lady". "that's not my problem". etc. Um.. I go plenty of days without taking a break get over yourself maybe you should have applied yourself in life more and you'd be more than a bus driver. Make sure you know the schedule WELL and don't expect to pee. read more

They are never on time and if the bus does come 9 out of 10 times they are FULL. I have had to stand on the bus multiple times!. i pay so much money a month for what??? to stand on a bus or to wait an hour everyday for a bus to come!! Old bridge Park and Ride never has buses to come and pick up the commuters. WE have to GET TO WORK! but ACADEMY Doesn't care!! read more

IF I COULD GIVE ZERO I WOULD!!! on the way back from atlantic city bus driver lied when he bus was full and he had about 40 more people angrily waiting. instead of honestly telling us the next bus would be leaving at 4pm from another hotel we all satnd there lookinf foolish and then finally someone goes in to double check with the agents at the bus info desk they tell us no the next bus is at 4 and the bus stop is 5 blocks away. We call academy and spoke to 2 rude people who kept sayin i dont know before getting a manager to tell us he doesnt know either on the 3rd call back to file a complaint i was giggled at at which point i became irate told i was too upset and then hung up on yes the customer service told their angry customer they were too upset and then HUNG UP ON ME!! when i called back the 4th they answered i heard talking and backgroud clicking and ringing for about 10 seconds i sat Hello? HUNG UP ON ME AGAIN!!! so i call from a different phone and have my boyfriend do the talking a 5th time he says i want to file a complaint they laugh say ooo u wanna file a complaint i can take it down. we request the corporate address or email or HR dept. they give us a phone number ( which i later called to find it the same center ANN picked up again) i have the companys address now and will be using it.. NEVER AGAIN! read more

The 5:45 bus from Port Authority to Monmouth Service Area is consistently very late. We are told that the driver is on his way up from shore or stuck in traffic in the Lincoln Tunnel or just leaving from Hoboken. There is always an excuse. All the other buses are on time, except for ours. If the schedule says 5:45, there should be a bus there at that time. There is no excuse for this terrible service. read more

Worst bus line. Broken buses. Horrible "not our fault" attitude about customer service. When told about broken AC the response was "Did you tell the driver to reset the system?" No, I'm not a mechanic, nor am I responsible for instructing the driver on how to fix the AC. read more

At busy times they do not increase the number of bus running, while they cut back when ridership is expected to be low. Bus often break down and driver occasionally do not show up. They have do not any back-up plans for this and commuters wait for long periods. They are unresponsive to complaints. read more

They run a half ass business, Do not take it for Casino runs.They will tell you the bus is coming its just running late & then never show up & your stuck! I heard they have been treating there passengers this way for years. Take some pride in your business!! We don't need companies like this in America. read more

Service is totally unreliable, Of 5 commuter trips this week (Lincroft to Wall Street), 2 buses were cancelled - that's a 40% failure rate. NJT and LIRR add service for holidays -- Academy cuts their schedule and then cancels on top of that! Guess they had too many charters to fill. They switch buses/drivers to cover charters for extra $$. They already have the commuter $$ and won't lose it since they're the only game in town except $625 mo. ferry. Cancellations peak at holidays, late spring (school charters) and summer (group trips) - coincidence? $375 month for this service and we additionally subsidize thru taxes since buses are leased from NJT for $1/yr. Weekend service is every 2 hours and 2 weeks ago driver was 45 min. late - he overslept. PNC parking lot condition is a disgrace - basically potholes surrounded by debris. Lincroft ticket office hours cut to bone. Nonexistent WiFi. read more

If I could give this company ZERO stars, I would. First and foremost, the staff at the customer service department is incredibly rude and dismissive. Secondly, we were told that our pick up location would be at 4 o'clock from a specific resort in Atlantic city, we were NEVER informed that the 4 o'clock bus had multiple pick up locations. We then found ourselves stranded amongst 35 other people who were given the same erroneous information. Lastly, the bus driver arrived an hour before the new pick up time- 6 o'clock, and instead of at least letting us get on the bus (on an immensely hot day) to be more comfortable, she took off with the bus. I would NOT recommend this company, save yourself the hassle. read more

Worst company. Was at the bus stop BEFORE the scheduled bus at 5:33am at Old Mill & Rt 9 in Old Bridge. NJ. The bus did NOT stop at the bus stop. Called Academy and spoke to Bill who advised the bus was full. The driver usually passes the stop and Academy always has an excuse. This company is totally UNRELIABLE! If you have an option for other means of transportation do so! 40 minutes later the bus shows up! Thanks Academy for continually proving your UNRELIABILITY!! read more

Our bus broke down multiple times during a trip before being unable to continue. Normally, I wouldn't judge the entire company for the flaws of one bus, but THE BUS SENT TO PICK US UP BROKE DOWN TOO. A third bus came to get us, but the AC was broken, so it felt like 95 degrees and humid for the rest of the ride. Never choosing Academy ever again. read more

Words can't express how much I hate with a passion the 22 bus running to Hoboken. It's my only option to work everyday and I never know when it will come because it's not true to the schedule online. More than several times a month I have to call into work letting them know I'll be late. I arrive early and I still have to wait 45minutes for the bus to arrive. Sometimes it's there right away but it's extremely rare. The 123 bus is across the street heading to port authority and that comes ever 3 minutes like clockwork. I complain to the bus drivers and they brush me off saying they were just late. This is making me want to move out of union city. read more

NEVER AGAIN... Well, you obviously get what you pay for with Academy/ Go Bus. The drivers are great, but the buses and customer service are absolutely horrendous. Their bus breaks down on the parkway and customers were left waiting almost 2 hours for another bus. Any respectable company would offer some type of compensation- Academy only offered a smug explanation of why they WOULDN'T offer anything. Simple situation handled completely inadequately. Academy/ Go just lost 2 more customers and are in for a host of bad reviews. read more

Service has gone horribly downhill since 2008 out of cheesequake to manhatten. They used to have a bus in every ten minutes or so. There is a new dispatcher at this location that seems to disregard the schedule and call buses in as he sees fit. Today I just missed the 525 ( now typically te old dispatchers would've had a bus in at 530) so had to wait for the 535. Now the 535 typically pulls in with only a handful of seats but even still and then at 545 a bus comes in that's usually half full. It seems that either by the direction of academy or by this dispatchers own decision the 535 has not been showing and the 545 will pull in and take everyone. At this hour every minute counts and the last thing anyone needs is to have to stand around an extra ten minutes (especially when the highway is next to you and you can see the buses passing). With that I will be getting novembers monthly bus pass from NJtransit, maybe academy will lose some more patrons and they'll learn to stick to the f*ckin schedule read more

I would not recommend using Academy Bus Tours. We booked an event with 3 buses for a Girl Scout event, which the majority were children on 6/8-6/10/12. The drivers were not aware of the itinerary that was provided to their company, never on time, they had no knowledge of how to work their buses. they were not familiar with the state of Washington. A/C stopped working in such hot weather. One of the buses smelled of crap. They had no clue where to park their buses.. Ridiculous!!!! read more

I am a small business owner and I do appreciate the flexible schedule Academy provides. I also have used Academy to travel to South Jersey and Academy has experienced drivers with a great deal of respect. I for one know you can't always pick and choose your commuters, you can however avoid the stress of driving yourself. They have my vote... read more

I ended up on an Academy bus by chance. I booked a Go Bus, but an Academy is the one that showed up. Maybe the Go Bus was out of commission? Anyways, I take this bus route dozens of times each year and this is the only time any bus has taken a route I've never been on before. Low and behold, we got stuck in a ton of traffic at a time of day that I've never experienced any highway traffic. Would be nice if Academy had their bus drivers use GPS. Go Bus doesn't stop for breaks, which I prefer so we can get to the destination faster. Despite booking my ticket through Go Bus, Academy has their own rules apparently and says we will stop for 20 minutes, but it was longer (of course..it always is). Go Bus has outlets, Academy does not. Maybe I should be sharing this in a Go Bus review... read more

We arranged an airport pickup for a large group and they didn't arrive until much later on due to an error on their part! The group had flown internationally and were left stranded at the airport. Then many of the requests we had made and paid for were not realized. When we called them to complain they offered no compensation and we cannot get hold of them today Saturday as we have another issue we need to discuss with them! Unless they call us back and solve this we wont be using them again and will inform all our collaborators and clients to do the same! read more

I called this morning to request a quote as I was doing research into many different companies that offer charters. I received the quote verbally over the phone, to my mistake not thinking to get this in an email. I call back later after I finish my research and to my surprise I was never given this quote. No one at the company "recalls" speaking with me nor giving me this rate. They will not be able to offer this rate as she began to quote be for an additional $125 after telling me the quote I got was initially given was the hourly rate. read more

One of the worst transportation companies. Last friday my wife and I had booked a room down in Atlantic City, so we wanted go down with Acadmey bus because every morning they run through Jersey City and then Bayonne, that is where we live and so we are waiting and waiting for the bus from where we purchased the tickets the day before and then a guy comes up to us and says they are not running today and I asked does he know why and he said no but the store who sells the tickets would not sell him one for today because they are not running, so I went into the store and I asked what is going on and he said he does not know anything just late the night before they cancelled fridays service and he gave me back my money. So now we have to go to NYC to get the bus from there because it is too late to cancel the room and they will charge my credit card and I have to spend all this extra money and time to go to the Port Authority. We were suppose to be there before 12pm and we got there after 3pm. Then the next day comes and we want to go back home and I know there is no guarantee that we will be able to go on the Bayonne bound bus and we found out that is running, so we thought we give it a try. The bus pulls in and it is the usual driver an unfriendly women who was suppose to drive the bus the day before but for some reason could not make it to work. Any way we asked her if there was any room to Bayonne and she says she is not going to Bayonne just Jersey City and I said why not and she replied because the bus is full and she did not pickup anyone from Bayonne, but the bus was not full to capacity there were some empty seats and she said it is either JC or nothing and I said ok we will go to JC and we will manage to get back to Bayonne and I know they will tell you that you only allowed to back to NYC because that is where you bought the ticket and departed from there and they are doing U a favor, but they are not because we had to go NYC because they from some reason cancelled the route and we had no choice but to go that way. When I told the driver we had some luggage to put in the storage down on the side of the bus she begrudgingly came down and opened the door and I quickly had to go back inside because I thought I forgot something so I told my wife I would be back in a second, she told me the driver made her put in the luggage by pointing to her and said you must put in yourself and when my wife told me that I was in shock. Now we departed and instead of taking the usual route she went all the way past Newark airport and we got off on exit 14A but at least we are near Bayonne, so when we went by the tolls I figured I would tell her please drop us off here, and again begrudgingly she stopped right on the outskirts of Bayonne and Broadway, she then opened up the door and made me get my luggage and by then it moved all the way to the back of the compartment and I had to crawl in and get it without any help from the driver. I am glad to be in Bayonne but we are on the other side of the city, and these days I see the drivers now expect you to tip them. I sure was not going to tip her and I mean whats this all about the last time we rode with her in April she was a 30 mins. late and then got pulled over on parkway for speeding and we ended up being over an hour late, and she expects tips, I mean whats next when the next time I fly I have tip the pilot because we arrived to our destination come on now give me a break. She is the worst driver EVER. She should have been fired a long time ago and as for going down to AC again I think I will try an alternate way to get there the next time. read more

I wish I could rate Academy 0 stars. I suffer through the misery of commuting on Academy's buses daily from Route 9 to Wall Street. (I have no choice because this pathetic company has a monopoly on the route.) Buses are often very late or canceled without notice. It's a gamble every day, hoping that an Academy bus will show up anywhere near the time the schedule says it will arrive, that is if it shows up at all, or if there are any seats available when it finally shows up. There is no customer service to speak of. When I call to complain about cancelled buses, late buses, standing-room only buses, the employees express absolutely no concern whatsoever. When I email to ask questions, my messages go unanswered. Academy is just a terrible bus company - the worst I have ever experienced. If you can avoid riding on an Academy bus, do so! It will save your sanity and give you a realistic chance of getting to work or home on time. read more