These are notes on the BRT proposal by Marvin Reed, former Princeton Borough Mayor and current chair of the Master Plan Subcommittee

Update: BRT for Princeton – May 1, 2010

For the past six years, municipalities in the Route One Corridor (Lawrence, Princeton (Borough and Township, West Windsor, Plainsboro, East Windsor, Hightstown, South Brunswick, Montgomery, Rocky Hill, and Franklin) have been discussing the development of a Bus Rapid Transit System to expand transit and relieve roadway congestion.

Proposals for a Route One Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) System have been developed by the NJ Department of Transportation, NJ Transit, and the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission.

Expansion of heavy rail service on the Northeast Corridor is deemed appropriate, necessary, and most economical for movement of large numbers of people to the New York and Philadelphia Metropolitan area.  Such expansion with double-deck cars and a new Manhattan Tunnel are underway.  Comparative financial studies, however, showed that emerging BRT technology provides more possibilities for flexible, expanded service than alternative proposals for light rail, trams, and trolleys.  In tight budgeting times, BRT becomes more doable and sustainable than rail-based systems.

Bus Rapid Transit is not just an ordinary bus.  BRT calls for:

• New clean-air technology vehicles (electric, hydrogen, etc.) with a greatly reduced carbon footprint.

• Improved reliability, with traffic light preemption, for the driver to maintain “green” go-ahead for the BRT vehicle, as well as any cars or trucks in the way.

• Low-slung multiple-door boarding and exiting.  (A six-inch step up from the curb, or raised curbs at station stops for fast easy-on-and-off access by bicycles, luggage, or handicapped individuals.)

• Off-vehicle fare collection at station stops, with no driver involvement.  (Inspectors would check randomly as they do now on the new Trenton-Camden Riverline.)

• Real-time GPS information will show arriving time for next vehicles at station stops.

• Dedicated “BRT-Only” express roadways or lanes in most heavily transited vehicle corridors.

As envisioned by NJ-DOT, NJ Transit, and DVRPC, the current “Dinky” right-of-way could provide for two dedicated BRT express lanes (with single-lane signaling systems to alternate use at two existing bridges).   Over time multiple routes connecting Princeton to a variety of new transit destinations would be developed over these dedicated lanes.

The right-of-way for the dedicated lanes would also accommodate footpaths and bike paths linking the center of Princeton to the West Windsor Junction area and beyond.

To start such a network, NJ Transit is currently considering establishing such a direct route from the Junction utilizing the Dinky right-of-way to the new University Arts District, then continuing up University Place to Nassau Street, on to Harrison Street and its Shopping Center, then back via Valley Road, and Witherspoon Street so as to complete the loop and return to the Junction Station.

Express BRT Station Stops would initially be created

• below Faculty Road (where the Township is re-zoning its Service zone for more mixed-use development).

• at the new University Arts District and the relocated WaWa.

• opposite Palmer Square.

• at East Nassau St. opposite Pine Street.

• opposite Spruce Circle Senior Housing.

• at the Harrison St. Shopping Center.

• at Township Hall.

• opposite the current Hospital (which will be converted into mixed-use residential, office, retail, and outdoor spaces).

• at the Arts Council.

• at Palmer Square – and then back down University Place to the dedicated roadways and the Junction Station.

Current conversations with NJ Transit envision BRT schedules running every 10 minutes, especially during peak hours – schedules that connect better to every train coming and going on the Northeast Corridor (including those connecting to Trenton and Philadelphia which are currently not well coordinated).  For higher volumes in peak hours, NJ Transit anticipates it would double up with additional tag-along vehicles.

In analyzing a 2006 surveyof Dinky riders, New Jersey Transit estimates that 75 percent of current Dinky riders are within a 5 minute walk of a stop on the Princeton loop.

Besides the basic Princeton BRT Loop, current conversations with NJ Transit envision a new BRT route connecting the Princeton loop to Plainsboro, the new Hospital, and Forestall Center, as well as a Route 295 Route from the Burlington/Bordentown area to Carnegie Center and into downtown Princeton.  Other future BRT routes might be developed to Hightstown and East Windsor, as well as out The Great Road to Montgomery Township and the reactivated West Trenton Line rail station at Belle Mead.