Taking NJ Transit to a Concert at the PNC Bank Arts Center

UPDATE 21 Aug 2012: LiveNation and the local police had things well in hand this afternoon at Aberdeen-Matawan. Hundreds of young people filed off the trains down a cordon towards a large group of waiting buses, all without apparent incident. Even the conductors on the train were paying closer attention to the crowding in the coaches. There may be some hope for this shuttle service yet.

UPDATE Aug 2012: There have been a couple of crowd control issues at the train station this year. The police blame a shortage of buses. See this Patch article and notice the many comments from locals complaining about the shuttle. 

UPDATE Sep 2011: I wrote the article below two years ago. While the shuttle still runs as described, LiveNation no longer posts information about the shuttle on its website. There is a small note saying to check their site for updates, but there are none that I could find. The instructions I used to provide on how to find the information on LiveNation are no longer valid, so I've edited them out. They've changed their website design and removed the links and pages I had described.  I'm not sure why. If someone knows why, let me know.

Also, you should know that while the shuttle has had few incidents, one or two concerts have brought in a particularly rowdy crowd that got out of hand and the police were called in to break up a near riot. The incidents made the local papers. Both the bus company and the police now try to anticipate which of these events might draw a large and rowdy crowd so additional buses and police can be on hand to keep things calm. 

The lack of official public information about this shuttle service makes my article quite popular. Glad to help out and I hope you enjoy your show. I've modified the text below for clarity. Feel free to post comments or send me an email to update me on the service. - Pat

For those of you looking for information about getting to a concert at the PNC Bank Arts Center by train and shuttle bus, you can try checking out LiveNation, which operates the web page for the former Garden State Arts Center in Holmdel. They claim to provide updates on shuttle service, but I didn't see any information there today. The following information about the shuttle service used to be provided by LiveNation but I don't see it on their site anymore:

Ride NJ Transit's North Jersey Coast Line train to the Aberdeen/Matawan station. PNC Bank Arts Center provides free shuttle bus service directly to our front gates. The shuttle bus will start running continuously two hours before show time until after the performance. The last shuttle bus leaves the PNC Bank Arts Center at 11:30 p.m. even if the performance is still in progress.

Here are some directions on where the bus picks you up at the Aberdeen-Matawan rail station. You will arrive at one of the raised Aberdeen train station platforms. After you exit the train, move to the steps at the end of the platform towards the back of the train. If you arrived on Track 1, you will have to carefully cross the railroad tracks and street. Do not cross against the signal as trains can surprise you by entering the station from the opposite direction of your train. A few local trains stop on Track 2, so you won't have to cross the tracks.

Cross the street that intersects the tracks. Be careful as the streets around the station are typically congested with commuters rushing to get home, both on foot and in cars. Make your way towards the white stucco (former Matawan train station) building  Your shuttle bus to the concert typically awaits passengers by a long, narrow strip of concrete island just across the street from the entrance to the white building. I've never seen any signage in the station or on the bus, so take note of these instructions as the parking lot is vast and many commuters are unaware of the shuttle.