With gas at $4.15 a gallon and Manhattan parking nearly as expensive as a Broadway show ticket, what’s the smartest way to travel to the Big Apple? Our eight volunteers tested a range of options: From a gas- guzzling SUV and super-expensive Amtrak Acela to a bevy of buses and lots of ways in between. Here’s what they found.

JUMP TO:

TRAINS | AMTRAK | SEPTA/NJT | RIVERLINE/NJT 

BUSES | GREYHOUND/PETER PAN | CHINATOWN BUS | MEGABUS 

CARS | TOYOTA PRIUS | MAZDA SUV

THE TRAINS

AMTRAK

HOW I GOT THERE:
Amtrak, from 30th Street Station Philadelphia to Penn Station, New York. Costs vary - sometimes widely - from $61 each way up to $156. For more information, visit www.amtrak.com or call 1-800-872-7245.
FUEL EFFICIENCY: Amtrak could not provide a fuel cost
MY COST: Amtrak's regional rail up and Acela Express back, plus parking: $211
ROUND-TRIP TIME: 2 hours, 35 min. (Including waiting time)
My trip
8:28 a.m. Did someone say "quiet car"? That's where I head (no cell phones or chat), and soon after I settle in, a man and his young son grab the seat across the aisle from me. Moments later, a woman in front of them turns to inform them that this is the quiet car and that means NO TALKING AT ALL. A minor - albeit quiet - altercation ensues, involving the conductor, who reminds the woman of the First Amendement. We all settle down.
9:59 a.m. We arrive at Penn Station on time.
6:15 p.m. I'm back at Penn Station for my 6:45 reserved train to Philadelphia. Bad news: The train is one hour and 10 minutes late. I am now faced with the classic Amtrak dilemma: Book the 7:30? Or take the pricier 7 p.m. Acela Express? Now that I have to justify the expense to the bosses, I do some tortured mental calculations: Waiting 'til the 7:30 means that I won't get home for three hours. Taking the faster Acela, I'll be home in two. Surely, an hour of my time is valuable enough to justify the extra money. Also, the lines are much shorter at the Acela window. I turn in my $72 ticket and get one for $156. OUCH! Double ouch when I learn, after buying the ticket, that the Acela is running 25 minutes late. But the train itself is so sleek and modern, I keep expecting to run into Matt Damon as Jason Bourne.
8 p.m. The clientele between regional and Acela doesn't differ that much despite the big difference in price. Acela's quiet car is very quiet, but the rest of the cars are just as noisy as the regular train. In fact, since more people seem to drink on the Acela, it's a little noisier, but all good-natured.
8:25 p.m. I arrive home. I pick up my car at the lot: It's $25, which seems like pennies compared with what I've already paid.
Summary: Given the other options, Amtrak is a luxury, the fastest way up and back and also the most expensive. But who doesn't love being lulled by the train, especially when you don't have to share a seat with someone else?

-- Sandy Shea

SEPTA / N.J. Transit

HOW I GOT THERE:
Took the SEPTA R7 train from 30th Street Station to Trenton (runs hourly; half-hourly during a.m./p.m. peaks), then took NJ Transit to NY's Penn Station (runs half-hourly; more frequently during peaks).
FUEL EFFICIENCY: SEPTA: $.07 worth of electricity per passenger mile; NJ Transit declined to provide fuel cost.
MY COST: Total roundtrip on SEPTA R7 (30th Street to/from Trenton) & NJ Transit (Trenton to/from NY Penn Station): $31.75 - about half what gas, tolls and parking would have cost me.
ROUND-TRIPTIME: 4 hours, 22 min.
My trip
8:52-9:43 a.m. SEPTA R7 to Trenton. Between Bristol and Levittown, two women next to me compared calories in hamburger/cheeseburger choices of a major chain that has a clown for a spokesperson.
10:27-11:47 a.m. NJ Transit to NY Penn Station. Bucolic trip through woodlands/wetlands - a mama goose leading three goslings on a stream; an egret gliding by, framed by the distant Manhattan skyline - abruptly changed approaching N.Y. when a recorded voice warned riders to be "aware" of "suspicious persons or packages" in the city.
Noon-1 p.m. Walking up Broadway from Penn Station (33rd St.) to the Richard Rodgers Theatre (46th St.), I knew I was in N.Y. when someone shouted, "Look! It's the Naked Cowboy!" And there he was, standing in Times Square wearing tighty whities with "NAKED COWBOY" penned on his butt. He was strumming his guitar.
I passed a store having a liquidation sale on "Swiss Gold" and "Cute Souvenirs." I passed Jerusalem 2 Pizza, which touted "Kosher Pizza" and "Fresh Sushi." I felt so Early Dylan.
1 p.m. Lunch: N.Y.-style steak sandwich: flank steak sliced thin, mozzarella, grilled onions. Yes!
2 p.m. Fulfilled N.Y. daytrip fantasy of buying a last-minute ticket to a Broadway show I've been longing to see, the 2008 Tony Award winner for best musical, "In the Heights" - a sizzling, salsa-driven song-and-dancer about Latino love, loss and the longing to feel "home." It was a pure pleasure from start to finish.
5:16 p.m. Philly-bound on NJ Transit's new double-deckers that are the BMWs of commuter rail - plush seats that soothe the "sit" in public transit, arctic AC, silk-smooth ride. Aaaah!
Summary: Great daytrip! I look forward to the fall, when SEPTA starts running Regional Rail trains late so Philly riders can see evening shows on Broadway and still get home by train.  

-- Dan Geringer

RIVER LINE / N.J. Transit

HOW I GOT THERE:
Patco High Speed Line to the Walter Rand Transportation Center in Camden, NJ Transit's light-rail River LINE to Trenton and NJ Transit's Northeast Corridor train to Penn Station, New York. The River Line runs every 15 minutes during peak weekday hours and every 30 minutes off-peak, as well as Saturdays, Sundays and major holidays.
For more information visit: www.riverline.com and www.njtransit.com

FUEL EFFICIENCY: New Jersey Transit refused to provide fuel cost
MY COST: Roundtrip Patco, Philadelphia to Camden: $2.30. Roundtrip River LINE, Camden to Trenton: $2.70. Roundtrip (off-peak) from Trenton to New York: $21.50. Total: $26.50
ROUND-TRIP TIME: 5 hours, 30 min.
My trip
9:38 a.m. The trolley-like River LINE is bright, airy and quiet but I ruin that scene immediately by sitting backwards in a tight seat. I can't cross my legs without eating my sneaker and my newspaper crumples up against the seat in front of me. My wife's phobia of sitting backwards in trains rubbed off.
9:55 a.m. The River LINE takes you through river towns towns like Palmyra, Cinnaminson, and Riverside, each one hoping I get off and spend some cash. You see abandoned factories, sprawling industrial parks, a surprising number of lumber yards, and, every now and then, some genuine scenery, like the Rancocas Creek.
10:05 a.m. I eavesdrop on conversations among college kids behind me. Apparently you can drink alcohol on the train to New York, so there's something to look forward to.
11:04 a.m. The Northeast Corridor line to Penn Station is a real train. Not only is it the appropriate shade of shiny metal, it makes all the requisite clatter a train should. The decor is aged inside, but the brown pleather seats are soft and my butt rejoices.
11:40 a.m. I see ads for Broadway shows at every stop. By the time we get to Newark, the train is packed with everything from grizzled backpackers to meticulously groomed business men burning up their BlackBerries.
12:34 p.m. I try not to look like a tourist in Penn Station but my moves gave me away - dumbfounded look, walking in circles, staring at tall buildings.
1 p.m. I venture about two blocks away from Madison Square Garden, buy a crabcake burger and a comic book.
2:05 p.m. Amazingly, I find my way back to the departing train for the return trip.
Summary: The River LINE is simple and cheap and the switch to the Northeast Corridor line is a breeze. Pick the right seat on either train, and you've got more than an hour of quality reading time on both trips. Penn Station is hectic, but that's all part of the experience. Best of all, I bumped into a guy who immediately checked his pockets, thinking I mugged him. I felt like less of a tourist after that.

-- Jason Nark

THE BUSES

GREYHOUND/PETER PAN

HOW I GOT THERE:
The Greyhound/Peter Pan express-bus service, which runs from the Greyhound terminal, on Filbert near 10th, to the Port Authority bus terminal in New York City, just one block west of Times Square. Buses typically leave every half-hour to an hour between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m., with other departures scheduled sporadically. For more information visit www.greyhound.com.
FUEL EFFICIENCY: Slightly more than $.01 per passenger mile
MY COST: Roundtrip, non-refundable bus ticket purchased three days in advance: $36
ROUND-TRIP TIME: 3 hours, 35 min.
My trip
10:05 a.m. With e-ticket in hand, I arrive at the terminal 55 minutes early. The instructions on my ticket to arrive an hour early are not a joke. The line is already at least 40 people deep.
10:55 a.m. Boarding begins and by the time I get on there are no window seats. The bus hasn't been vacuumed and I have to wipe crumbs off my seat. Nowhere near everyone in line made it onto the 55-seat bus. Later, a Greyhound representative tells me that the company doesn't limit the number of tickets sold. Instead, they bring in more buses and drivers for the overflow.
11:32 a.m. The male, mid-life crisis movie "Wild Hogs" plays over the bus televisions.
12:06 p.m. After the movie automatically fast-forwards itself - twice - the driver stops the video cassette (!), which has obviously gone hog wild.
1:03 p.m. As I exit the Port Authority Terminal and cross the street, I immediately pass a peep show and a man drinking beer out of a paper bag. I have arrived in New York City.
3:33 p.m. The line for the 5 p.m. bus is longer than in Philadelphia.
The line begins to move and I wonder if this is my bus. It isn't. Everyone is in line for the 4 p.m. bus. "They don't check the ticket times, just act like you belong here," a passenger tells me.
4:00 p.m. The last people to board the bus are three drunk, middle-aged men.
4:05 p.m. As we pull out, the driver instructs us that cell-phone conversations should be "quick and quiet" and that there will be no drinking on the bus.
4:25 p.m. A drunk guy in front of me has a mini-panic attack as we go through the Lincoln Tunnel. Meanwhile, a family of five, on either side of me, enjoys a three-course meal, passing their smelly dishes over my head and lap.
5:32 p.m. One of the drunk guys emerges from the bathroom (which has a busted door) with hand sanitizer all over his back.
5:52 p.m. Arrive in Philadelphia
Summary: I loved the convenience of being dropped off just one block away from Times Square and not having to worry about parking, but I could have done without the long waits and the family buffet that popped up around me.

-- Stephanie Farr

CHINATOWN BUS

HOW I GOT THERE:
The nonstop Chinatown-to-Chinatown bus service offered by New Century Travel, from 55-57 N. 11 St. in Philadelphia to 88 E. Broadway St. in New York. Buses generally run daily every half hour from 6:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and every hour from 5 to 11 p.m. For more information, visit www.2000coach.com or call 215-627-2222.
FUEL EFFICIENCY: $.02 per passenger mile
MY COST: Roundtrip bus ticket: $20
ROUND-TRIP TIME: 4 hours
My trip
10:21 a.m. This bus is cash only. No credit cards. No refunds.
10:30 a.m. The 55-seat coach is jam-packed, so I slide into the last row. A young couple plops down in the seats next to me. Moments later, they're tickling tongues, caressing cheeks and holding hands.
11:28 a.m. The lovebirds are at it again, kissing before she lies back on his lap. The woman in front of me is on the phone, muttering long-division steps and holding a tiny, glittering ball that chimes like jingle bells. The bus advertises "high-quality video and audio," but the five TV screens are blank.
12:30 p.m. I see signs with Chinese letters. We're here. I try to ask the bus driver a few questions, and he throws a hissy fit. "This is last stop!" he yells at me, before he throws me off the bus.
1:30 p.m. I finish my shrimp dumplings in a dim-sum restaurant at the top of the East Broadway Mall. "Today a special price for you," a man tells me as he scribbles $5.30 on my bill. I leave a $1 tip and go up to pay.
1:35 p.m. I spot a New Century Travel bus across the street from where I was dropped off. I hop on for the return trip. The bus is nearly empty since it doesn't leave for another half-hour. Just before it's time to go, the driver walks to the back of the bus. "Aahh!" he exclaims. "There's sharks in the bathroom!" No one aboard the now half-full bus says a word. He returns to his seat, turns on the ignition and starts to drive. "I'm crazy," he says to me as he turns the wheel.
4:02 p.m. I'm back in Philadelphia's Chinatown. I walk to the parking lot for my car. It's $25 - $5 more expensive than my round-trip bus ticket.
Summary: I enjoyed the cultural experience and unbeatable fare, but I could live without the rude driver and the couple making out next to me.

-- Josh Mellman

MEGABUS

HOW I GOT THERE:
The new Megabus service, which stops at 30th Street Station and Independence Mall before going nonstop to New York City's Penn Station. Buses run about every two hours, beginning at 6:30 a.m. from 30th Street. For more information, visit www.megabus.com or call 877-462-6342.
FUEL EFFICIENCY: $.02 per passenger mile
MY COST: Roundtrip bus ticket: $13
ROUND-TRIP TIME: 5 hours, 49 min.
My trip
6:44 a.m. The only way to board the Megabus is a) give the driver the reservation number from your ticket purchase or b) show the printed reciept from your online transaction. No cash, just credit cards. No refunds or time changes.
6:46 a.m. The 1996 comedy "Black Sheep" is played over a half-dozen small screens throughout the clean and olfactorily satisfying bus.
7:30 a.m. The bus is about 80 percent full. And everyone is asleep including yours truly despite the shenanigans on the small screens. The bus crowd is young, old, hipster and the blue-haired set. Some riders are using the Megabus wi-fi that actually works. For free. No electrical outlets, however.
9:04 a.m. The bus arrives in New York 34 minutes late.
9:25 a.m. After hovering around, I meet a friend and she and I rush to SoHo for our 9:30 a.m. breakfast reservations.
9:55 a.m The folks at Balthazar restaurant still seat us, despite our tardiness. Iced coffee, fancy egg dishes and fried tomatoes are on the menu.
11:35 a.m.  I stop at an Apple store where I try to book a return trip. All seats are sold out. I try calling the Megabus number and the operators confirm that all travel from New York to Philly is sold out. I'm not buying it.
1:35 p.m. I head to the spot near Penn Station where the Megabus had dropped me off earlier. I approach an official-looking Megabus official and ask, er, demand, "I need to get on this bus. I need to get to Philadelphia." He heads over to another official-looking guy, who books me a seat on the 2:15 bus. Just like that. My panic slowly leaves me.
2:20 p.m. The bus driver leaves the end of Miami Vice on for the riders to enjoy before we pull out of New York. A small group of riders bonds in frustration over our fellow passenger, aka the world's loudest woman. She sits behind me and answers cell-phone call after cell-phone call with a familiar refrain, "I'm on the Megabus!!" When the fifth call comes in, another passenger asks her snarkily, "Who's next?"
3 p.m. The bus driver hits the brakes hard about every 30 seconds in heavy shore-bound traffic, resulting in queasiness for me.
5:30 p.m. Arrive at Independence Mall, one hour and 15 minutes late.
Summary: The experience was solidly positive. I felt secure on the bus with the other passengers, so much so that I took a nap. The bus bathroom was clean. The seats were comfortable, the video worked and the air conditioning kept the bus pleasantly cool. Not bad for a $13 roundtrip.

-- Regina Medina

THE CARS

TOYOTA PRIUS

HOW I GOT THERE:
My 2007 Toyota Prius gas/electric hybrid, which gets 60 miles per gallon city driving and 50 highway - because in stop-and-go traffic, the gas engine switches off and the car runs on a battery that is recharged by the engine. Coasting will keep the battery on and engine off, but braking is also helpful because the friction energy is fed back into the battery. 
FUEL EFFICIENCY:
$.06 per passenger mile
MY COST:
$28.53 (that's $13.43 for gas, $6.10 for New Jersey Turnpike, $8 for the Lincoln Tunnel and $1 for parking at an on-street meter.)
My trip
10:30 a.m. My trip starts at the I-95 on-ramp, and I find the highway jammed with stop-and-go traffic. Excellent! I manage to get as far as the Allegheny Avenue exit just goosing the pedal to stay on battery power, before I have to engage the engine. For the first two miles, my miles-per-gallon average is 99.9. This drops considerably north of Woodhaven Road, where the flow opens up and speeding becomes mandatory, at least according to the huge semi right behind me.
10:55 a.m. I cross the Delaware just below Washington Crossing (free bridge!) Upon entering U.S. 1, I see across the street a Raceway and a Valero offering gas at $3.85 a gallon. Seems like a quaint, nostalgic price - a trip down memory lane.
11:40 a.m. At New Brunswick I nip over to the N.J. Turnpike, whose "cars only" option is more tolerant of those staying around 65 mph than I-95 was. I take a bathroom break at Grover Cleveland service plaza.
12:30 p.m. The span between NJT and Lincoln Tunnel is slow going - around 5 miles an hour- as we're squeezed into one lane. Frustrating for most, but great for the mpg. I have the windows down, enjoying the slight breeze and the panorama of Jersey swampland.
12:50 p.m. I arrive in Manhattan, but make the mistake of getting on W. 40th Street, which has a huge jam due to some fire department activitity a couple blocks up. Sitting still in traffic is not an mpg killer- the car's gas engine shuts off - but it's trashing what was a good travel time. It's almost 1 p.m. before I complete the last few blocks to Penn Station. I park at a meter on the street a couple blocks away. The mpg gauge reads 57.5 mpg.
3:15 p.m. After lunch, my departure is briefly delayed by forgetting where the car's parked. Give me a break, I'm from out of town!
3:25 p.m. On the way out there's a huge backup getting into Lincoln Tunnel - maybe Holland would've been the way to go - that costs me at least 20 extra minutes before I can get back on the highway.
6:05 p.m. Philadelphia, at last.
Summary: I bet myself that I could drive the Prius to NYC and back with a fuel efficiency of 55 mpg and without anyone honking at me to get off the road for being too slow. It might have been dicey if traffic had flowed perfectly at all times, but I returned, honk-free, with an mpg of 56.3. Yeah!

-- Vance Lehmkuhl

MAZDA SUV

HOW I GOT THERE:
Driving my SUV, a 2004 Mazda Tribute.
FUEL EFFICIENCY: 20 cents per passenger mile
MY COST: $77.60 (that's $39.50 in gas, plus $18.10 in tolls, plus $20 to park)
ROUND-TRIP TIME: 4 hours, 30 min.
My trip
6:15 a.m. Smooth sailing to the New Jersey Turnpike, where I hop on at Exit 4 for the jaunt north. I am the picture of zen calm as I sip coffee, adjust the air-conditioner and listen to my serene audiobook (Sara Gruen's "Water for Elephants" - I highly recommend it!).
7:15 a.m. I turn on the radio to 880-AM to hear a traffic report, and my zen starts to fizzle. There's a 20-minute delay into the Lincoln Tunnel. Without a GPS unit to plot a new route, I helplessly hurtle toward the congestion.
7:30 a.m. Turnpike congestion. My zen evaporates altogether when my side of the turnpike (Cars-Trucks-Buses) slows to a crawl. Why didn't I choose the Cars-Only side?!
8 a.m. It's stop-and-go for miles approaching the Lincoln Tunnel, and then a 10-minute crawl through the 1.5-mile shaft, as an army of tour buses sails past in the car-pool/buses-only lane. As I inch through the tube, I try not to envision Stephen King's "The Stand," in which the tunnel becomes a corpse-clogged nightmare for two survivors trying to escape the city after a deadly viral epidemic.
8:15 p.m. Mapquest has led me astray. I can't go where it tells me to go,  so I circle Midtown trying to find Penn Station (I'm a Philly girl; New York confounds me) and a nearby parking lot that won't empty my wallet entirely. Driving down 7th Avenue, I almost run up the curb because I'm busy scoping out the sidewalks, hoping for a celebrity sighting.
8:30 a.m. Score! I find an early-bird special at a lot on West 31st Street near Madison Square Garden. The sign says $16.90 plus tax, but the parking lady demands a full $20. I almost complain: "That's a lot of tax!" until I consider that $20 still seems like a bargain to park an SUV in a secure lot in New York.
11:15 a.m. After a pleasant break and yummy brunch in SoHo, I hop back in my SUV for the return trip. Amazingly, I cruise right through the tunnel and back onto the New Jersey Turnpike without delay.
12:17 p.m. Vehicles slow as a flashing traffic -alert sign - missing a few letters - near Exit 8A warns motorists: "Reduce speed C NGE TION AHEAD" Must be a lot of New Yorkers skipping out of work early to head down the shore!
1:30 p.m. Back in Center City, I climb gratefully out of my SUV. My butt muscles are numb, and I would like to not sit down again for a while.
Summary: Expensive! And stressful for a Philly girl who doesn't know her way around New York at all, and doesn't have patience for traffic. It would have been nice to nap, read or otherwise relax while someone else did the driving!

-- Dana DiFilippo