J’burg bus stop could be around the corner
BY SETH MANDEL
Staff Writer

JAMESBURG — With little local support for renewed rail service, borough officials are pursuing the construction of a park-and-ride facility in town.

Councilwoman Barbara Carpenter said a survey she conducted in 2001 showed there was significant demand for increased bus service to New York City, and that many additional commuters have moved to town since then.

“It’s just stressful rushing, fighting traffic on the [New Jersey] Turnpike back and forth every day of your life,” Carpenter said. “We definitely need to get more cars off the turnpike, and this is one way to go about it.”

Carpenter has been working with two officials from the New Brunswick-based Suburban Transit/Coach USA company — Director of Operations Ron Kohn and Vice President of Sales Solon Karakoglou — as well as council President Otto Kostbar, in reviewing the project’s feasibility.

Kostbar said transit officials and state Department of Transportation (DOT) park-and-ride coordinator William Piedra have expressed enthusiasm for the proposed park-and-ride, and that the county transportation and planning departments have shown their support as well.

“Now that we have this gas crisis going on, things like park-and-rides are going to be even more important,” Kostbar said. “This will not cost the taxpayers of Jamesburg a penny, and it’s going to be a tremendous benefit to them.”

Kostbar said those benefits include property value appreciation, savings on gas and the convenience of having bus service to New York.

“It’s a no-brainer,” Carpenter added. “You have the availability to leave your house and walk down a corner to hop on a bus to New York City. It’s got to raise your property value.”

Carpenter and Kostbar were expected to meet with Kohn, state Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein, Piedra and other DOT officials this week to discuss possible locations for the park-and-ride and the availability of funding for the facility.

Currently, the closest park-and-rides are in Monroe and South Brunswick.

The Monroe park-and-ride, on Applegarth Road, allows only township residents to park there, and, Carpenter said, the parking lot at the South Brunswick facility, located on Route 130, is almost completely full by 7 a.m.

Transit officials have long been discussing the possibility of passenger rail service returning to the county. One such proposal, the Monmouth-Ocean-Middlesex line, or MOM line, would run on tracks that bisect the borough.

Carpenter said this presents safety and quality-of-life concerns in the borough, and the bus service would cause neither.

Kostbar added that only about four buses would go through town each day, and would avoid busy areas.

“[The buses] are just such a better idea than this train thing, because they can be put together very quickly, and have very low impact on the town,” he said.

Kostbar said that if the park-and-ride facility were to be constructed, it would be accompanied by other bus stops in town, eliminating the need for commuters to even get in their cars.

“I just think that mass transit like this, sensible mass transit, is really going to become more and more important as this energy crisis just seems to be worsening,” he said.

Carpenter said demand for the park-and-ride will likely determine its size and location.

She said officials are also exploring means by which the borough can receive additional revenue for the project, but emphasized the importance of relieving the stress that many commuters experience on a daily basis.

“It’s my goal to have the availability to walk out to the corner, grab a cup of coffee, maybe sleep on the bus,” Carpenter said. “How nice is that?”