Long Beach Island, NJ

Getting around

Route 72 is the only road onto or off Long Beach Island. It crosses Manahawkin Bay on the causeway from Stafford Township on the mainland to Ship Bottom. Source: NJDOT: Route 72 Manahawkin Bay Bridges, questions and answers, NJDOT: Route 72 Manahawkin Bay Bridges project.

This page covers the drive, walking and cycling across, the LBI Shuttle, the buses, and leaving in an emergency.

Checked October 21, 2026 against each agency's own pages. Each line links to the page it came from. This site does not list fares or parking rules.

Driving onto LBI

The causeway crosses the Intracoastal Waterway on two parallel Manahawkin Bay bridges, one carrying two lanes onto LBI and the other two lanes off it, and three smaller trestle bridges over Hilliards, East and West Thorofares. Source: NJDOT: Route 72 Manahawkin Bay Bridges project, NJDOT news release, May 22, 2019.
From the Garden State Parkway, interchange 63A at milepost 63 is signed Route 72 East / Long Beach Island, from either direction. Source: New Jersey Turnpike Authority: Garden State Parkway interchanges.
NJDOT's new Manahawkin Bay Bridge was completed in 2016, the three trestle bridges on October 2, 2019, and the rebuilt original bay bridge was substantially complete in November 2019. The project's final contract widened Route 72 in Ship Bottom, where it is 8th and 9th Streets, and restored two-way traffic on Central Avenue and Long Beach Boulevard. NJDOT scheduled its final paving for April 27 to 30, 2026. Source: NJDOT: Route 72 Manahawkin Bay Bridges project, NJDOT news release, April 24, 2026.
Traffic to the shore rises every summer. NJDOT has told summer drivers to plan extra travel time and to check 511NJ for real-time travel information. 511NJ live traffic. Source: NJDOT news release, July 13, 2023, NJDOT news release, April 24, 2026.

A 6-foot sidewalk along the north side of the causeway joins Stafford and Ship Bottom. Cyclists can ride across on the 13-foot outside shoulders of the two bay bridges and the 6-foot shoulders of the trestle bridges. Source: NJDOT news release, May 22, 2019, NJDOT: Route 72 Manahawkin Bay Bridges, questions and answers.
Beach Haven has painted green lines along its bike lane through town to show drivers the lane is for bicycles. Source: Borough of Beach Haven.
In New Jersey a cyclist under 17 must wear an approved helmet, and a bicycle has the same rights and responsibilities on the road as a motor vehicle. A driver passing a cyclist must move over a lane if there is one; on a single-lane road the driver must leave at least 4 feet, or slow to 25 mph and be ready to stop until it is safe to pass. Source: NJ Division of Highway Traffic Safety: bicycle safety.

In 2026 the shuttle ran Memorial Day weekend (May 22 to 25), then weekends, then on its summer schedule from June 26, then weekends again until October 11, 2026. On October 21, 2026 neither the township nor the shuttle's own site had posted a 2027 schedule. Source: Long Beach Township: LBI Shuttle, LBI Shuttle.
Long Beach Township runs the LBI Shuttle along Long Beach Boulevard from Barnegat Light to Holgate. In Barnegat Light it goes up Bay View Avenue past Viking Village to the lighthouse. Riders wave a shuttle down at its designated stop areas. It no longer runs a loop into Stafford. Phone: 609-342-2111 (Long Beach Township Transportation). Source: Long Beach Township: LBI Shuttle, Barnegat Light: LBI Shuttle, LBI Shuttle.
The shuttles can be followed live on the LBI Shuttle tracker, which needs the phone's browser to allow location. LBI Shuttle live tracker. Source: LBI Shuttle, Long Beach Township: LBI Shuttle.
Every shuttle is ADA accessible, with lift service, and service animals and portable oxygen tanks are allowed. A rider can ask for one detour of up to 1 block from the route per trip, where conditions allow, by calling the township 24 hours ahead. The township decides whether to allow it, and drivers cannot make unscheduled route changes. Phone: 609-342-2111 (Long Beach Township Transportation). Source: Long Beach Township: LBI Shuttle, LBI Shuttle.

NJ Transit's nearest bus to Long Beach Island is route 559, between Lakewood and Atlantic City, which runs daily along Route 9 on the mainland and stops in Manahawkin at Route 9 and Beach Avenue. All 559 trips use lift-equipped buses. Phone: 973-275-5555 (NJ Transit). NJ Transit MyBus arrivals. Source: NJ Transit: route 559 timetable.
Ocean County's Ocean Ride OC 9 bus runs on Tuesdays only, except county holidays such as Election Day, and is open to riders of any age: LBI-North from Barnegat Light and LBI-South from Holgate, each to Manahawkin. Its stops on the island include Barnegat Light at 4th Street, Loveladies at St. Clare's Church, Surf City at 8th Street, the Ship Bottom Municipal Building, Brant Beach at the St. Francis Center, Peahala Park, Beach Haven Gardens, Beach Haven at 9th Street and Holgate, and the driver can be flagged at a safe place along the route. It connects with NJ Transit 559 on Route 9. Phone: 732-736-8989 (Ocean Ride). Source: Ocean County Ocean Ride: OC 9 LBI-North and LBI-South schedule, Ocean County: Ocean Ride bus routes.
Ocean Ride's buses have wheelchair lifts. A rider who needs the lift calls Ocean Ride 24 hours ahead and presses 4. Phone: 732-736-8989 (Ocean Ride). Source: Ocean County Ocean Ride: OC 9 LBI-North and LBI-South schedule.

Route 72 over the causeway is the evacuation route off LBI. The state's Ocean County coastal evacuation map marks it and Long Beach Boulevard as Coastal Evacuation Routes, which are marked by a blue circular Coastal Evacuation Route sign. When officials order an evacuation they name the roads to use, and police direct the traffic. Ocean County coastal evacuation routes map. Source: NJ Office of Emergency Management: Ocean County coastal evacuation routes, NJ Office of Emergency Management: evacuation routes, NJDOT: Route 72 Manahawkin Bay Bridges, questions and answers.
Anyone who needs help to evacuate can call their town's Office of Emergency Management. A person who will need special help, such as someone using a wheelchair or oxygen, can register ahead with the local police through Ocean County's We Care program. Source: Ocean County Sheriff's Office: evacuations.
Long Beach Township's Office of Emergency Management can call registered cell phones and landlines with emergency notices, and asks residents to sign up at Nixle for community alerts. Long Beach Township emergency notifications. Source: Long Beach Township: emergency notification system.

Beach wheelchair loans and rides over the dunes are on the beach accessibility page, and each town's police and offices on the town services page.