West Windsor Community Shuttle

West Windsor is a community that depends on cars for nearly all transportation. We drive to the Princeton Junction Train station, work, schools, and stores, creating congestion and polluting our own air. Conversations with residents show that this is not the choice of transportation for most people, rather the only option available because we do not have public transportation in most part of the town.

Based on the need of more than 30% surveyed residents (~ 600 households), I propose a more convenient transportation system than cars, a West Windsor community shuttle system. This model is based on the successful shuttle program run by the Mews at Princeton Junction apartment complex. The demand for the shuttle is high enough that it is self-sustainable at $1 per ride.

WW community shuttle system

• Weekdays, a shuttle runs 5:30 am to 9:45 pm between the Princeton Junction Train Station and a stop < 0.3 miles from your residence.
• It loops back and forth along the route with 3-5 stops and < 10 min commute time. During rush hour, it catches every or every other train (every 10/20 min). During the day, it catches every train (1 hr apart).
• It stops at town businesses/shops.
• With the train station as the transition point, you can get to everywhere in town in 30 min.
• Self-sustainable at $1/ride.
• 10 shuttles serve the whole town during rush hour, and 1-2 throughout the day.

Who needs the shuttle

Train station commuters 30% of WW households commute by train. Your taking possibly the only car in the household, fighting an average 20 min to the train station during rush hour, adds to the overall stress of your long commute that can average as much as 90 min one way for New York commuters. Furthermore, you still need to walk up to 1/2 mile from the parking spot to the train. By taking the shuttle, you save the annual $200-$1,000 parking and gas cost, car maintenance cost, and reduce stress, pollution, and congestion.

Senior parents living with children It is not unreasonable to estimate that half of WW households have parents visiting for a long-term during their residence in WW. A lot of these visits are for helping to take care of grandchildren, particularly in Chinese and Indian families. Others are families taking care of aging parents. In many cases, these parents mostly cannot drive (at least in the U.S.), nor there are extra cars in the household for them to drive.

There are two bus routes in WW - NJ Transit 600 and 612. 80% residents do not have access to bus transportation. The stay of many parents may have been shortened and/or compromised because they are housebound during the day, day after day.

With this shuttle, our parents can go shopping in town, visit other towns by transferring at the train station, and visit the senior center for activities and social life. The quality of the stay should dramatically improve for both the parents and their children.

One-car families In many one-car families, one family member must drop off another family member at schools or the train station; this adds inconvenience to the family and congestion to the road. An alternative transportation can save up to more than 1,000 daily commutes to the train station and schools, which can be translated into a reduction of congestion time by more than 10 min during rush hour. In other words, it is possible for West Windsor to have no congestion during rush hour with the implementation of the community shuttle.

Students Half of West Windsor families have school children (5,000 households). Have you complained about the 40 min ride to school when you are 5 min away from a closer school (for example, you go to High School North even though you live closer to High School South)? Even when a student is assigned to a closer school, it is quite likely that your he/she sits on the school bus for up to 40 min one way. We are putting our children through the same long commute as us, only at much younger ages. The community shuttle will go to schools after/before the train station stop. Your child will be able to get to school in 10 min and come home by himself/herself (older children only of course) shall there be after school activities, also in 10 min. Why pay the $1 when we have the free school bus? The school bus is not free; it costs $10/day/per student, paid by you through your property tax. $2/day this year in using the shuttle may lead to a reduction of $5/day in your property tax next year. Or, this can be translated to $300/household/year tax reduction.

Businesses and Hotel guests This community shuttle can consolidate existing business shuttles in West Windsor (such as Blackrock, NRG, and hotel shuttles) that are mainly located along the Alexander Rd corridor.