Shuttle bus service kicks off in township
Service is in response to requests by local residents
BY CHRISTINE GRIMALDI
Staff Writer

MONROE- They've got a ticket to ride, and it's free.

Township residents are now entitled to shuttle service to the shopping hubs of Princeton and Freehold.

Service to Princeton began yesterday. Buses run there Sunday through Thursday. The Freehold route will become active within the next 90 days, according to a press release from the township.

Two 16-passenger buses will service two routes to Princeton, each with different pick-up locations. Route A service will begin at 8:15 a.m. at the Monroe Community Center, on Monmouth Road, and will stop at the Regency clubhouse, Concordia Shopping Center, Greenbriar at Whittingham Bus Shelter, the Encore clubhouse and Rossmoor/Old Nassau Road, in that order.

Route B service begins with an 8:45 a.m. pick-up at the Concordia Shopping Center and proceeds to the Concordia Community Bus Shelter and the Ponds, Clearbrook, and Renaissance clubhouses.

Both routes wind to Route 130 and County Road 571, the Princeton Junction Rail Station, Palmer Square, Princeton Hospital and the Princeton Shopping Center.

Routes A and B follow the reverse schedule of stops on the return trip. Route A departs at 2 p.m. from the Princeton Shopping Center and arrives at its last stop, the Monroe Community Center, at 4 p.m. Route B leaves the shopping center at 1:40 p.m. and returns to the Concordia Shopping Center at 3:10 p.m.

Though many stops are located at the adult communities, Township Councilman Irwin Nalitt said the service is open to all residents.

A third bus will run to Freehold.

The township held a kick-off ceremony Tuesday at 4 p.m. in the municipal building parking lot, with attendees including U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (D-12), Mayor Richard Pucci, Township Council members, county officials, and NJ Transit officials.

The initial push for shuttle service began four or five years ago, Nalitt said. He was not in charge of the process, but said he was the original agitator for such service.

Holt secured $400,000 through the Fiscal Year 2002 Transportation Appropriations Bill to purchase the buses, according to his office.

"I was pleased to secure federal funding to help Monroe Township purchase these buses," Holt told the Sentinel. "New Jerseyans deserve to see a return on their federal tax dollars, and I am optimistic that this service will improve transit options and decrease local congestion."

Nalitt said the township worked with Keep Middlesex Moving, a division of the Middlesex County Improvement Authority, to design a questionnaire for township residents regarding what routes they would prefer.

After mailing out about 11,000 questionnaires, returns showed Princeton and Freehold as the preferred routes, with the Brunswick Square Mall on Route 18 finishing third, Nalitt said.

The township worked with the state Department of Transportation to purchase the buses. The DOT held the township's order, so it could submit a bulk order of buses at one time, delaying the process, Nalitt said.

Of the five buses purchased, three are designated for continuous shuttle service, one is reserved in the event of breakdowns or overloaded routes, and the fifth became part of the senior center's fleet of community bus service.

Nalitt noted that Michael Costello, the new supervisor of Monroe's Department of Transportation, will be the point person for all township transportation needs.

Taxpayers will only contribute to the salaries and running expenses associated with the service, Nalitt said.

"From the requests that we've gotten over the years for bus service, I have to believe that people will be anxious to use them," Nalitt said.

Residents had positive things to say about the service.

"You can go to the [Princeton] railroad station and get a train to New York, rather than sweat the bus," said Morris Wollman of the Ponds community.

Though resident Bernard Sokohl has a car, he said the service is beneficial.

"For people that can't drive, it gives them mobility," he said.

Adult community residents can pick up schedules at the concierge desk in community clubhouses, Nalitt said. All the communities were expected to be stocked with the schedules by this week.

Schedules can also be obtained at the township library and the senior and community centers. They are available at Terry's Hallmark Cards and D&T Pizza Restaurant, both in the Concordia Shopping Center, and at The Brown Bag on Spotswood-Englishtown Road, Costello said.