Traffic Safety Cruiser

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This article by Bart Jackson was prepared for the September 25, 2002 edition of U.S. 1 Newspaper. All rights reserved.

Transit Alternatives To Solo Autos

Every morning 3.8 million Garden Staters pour out onto Route 1, the Turnpike and other gridlocked byways, making a commute averaging 30 minutes each way. The dumb news is that nearly two thirds of the workforce makes this dreary drive all alone in their private auto as it merrily gushes out its own weight in pollutants each year. The smart news is that this trend is reversing -- somewhat. Carpooling percentage has hit double digits and bicycle commuters have more than doubled in this decade. Since l997 the number of auto miles traveled annually has decreased steadily.

That's good news for the Greater Mercer Transportation Management Association (TMA), which is sponsoring its annual Community in Motion Day on Thursday, October 3. Much of the activity of this celebration will come in the form of municipal resolutions supporting public transit along with the announcement of specific bills to aid alternative transport, carpooling, and public transit routes.

But on the personal side, Sandra Brillhart, TMA's executive director, wants to challenge the public to try two new things. On that Thursday, she asks every commuter to take public transportation to work. And then that weekend she asks residents to plan a family outing using alternative or public transport. To help execute this challenge, commuters and travelers can call the TMA at 609-452-1491.

"It is a little bit like pushing water uphill," says Brillhart. "People just do not want to change, particularly when it comes to their beloved auto." It is a true love affair. Today, 84 percent of all American trips to anywhere are made by car, compared with 45 percent in equally automated Germany.

Brillhart, a native of Philadelphia, has spent all her working life teasing apart the transportation snarls of the northeast. After earning a bachelor's, then a master's in public administration at Temple University, she worked for the Philadelphia zoning board. Crossing the river, she joined the New Jersey Department of Transportation, finally bringing her talents to the TMA in l992.

Since its birth in l984, TMA has battled the increasing onslaught of more cars, gridlock, and filthy air with an inventive and multi-pronged approach. Privately and publicly funded, the TMA has enlisted the aid of lawmakers, municipal planners, area corporations, and everyone from outing clubs to planning boards. Through a series of programs, the organization tries to make it easier for folks to hop on a bicycle, bus, train, or vanpool, or to join a carpool.

The public transport bottleneck. Public transportation in New Jersey, as in most states, is largely in the hands of one agency, New Jersey Transit, which naturally sees it in its own best interest to run only the most profitable bus and train lines. TMA works to show the transportation agency where additional demand exists. The new bus routes to ETS are a prime example of its success. "If we can prove profit potential," states Brillhart, "New Jersey Transit is more than willing to put in the route."

In analyzing demand, TMA has uncovered a throw-back to the days before the Route 1 Corridor was chock-a-block with offices and the Exit 8A area of Cranbury was sprouting more warehouses than soy bean plants. "At this time, every transport route is geared around the out-dated idea of Trenton as our main commuter hub," notes Brillhart. "Thus frequently, one must bus into Trenton and bus back out to get to a neighboring town."

Commuter match-up. Rideshare matching is just like any other computer dating service, but a lot less risky and much more efficient. TMA lists of thousands of daily commuters on its disks, each seeking a buddy or two to share gas and the driving grind. To find your mate, simply tap into www.GMTMA.org. There you can fill in an application and you will receive by mail or E-mail a list of drivers and riders who are going your way. Who knows, in addition to saving on gas and stress, you might find a fishing buddy or even Mr. Right sitting in your passenger seat.

Transit info center. Every day New Jersey Transit takes over 360,000 people somewhere. Fine. But how do you get to where you want to go with the least cost, time, and hassle? TMA knows the tri-state public transportation network, and will gladly assist in planning your commute or trip for you. Currently, you must call the offices at 609-452-1491, but soon an updated website will also provide answers online.

Right to the office door. The real triumph of the auto over most public conveyances is its ability to get you from your cozy nest right to your cubicle. TMA has labored with Bristol-Meyers, Merrill Lynch, Firmenich, and other area corporations to provide shuttles from bus and train lines right to the plant, without the parking traumas. When New York and Garden State commuters began training down to the new Hamilton Station, TMA arranged a direct shuttle to Merrill Lynch for its employees, taking hundreds of cars off Route 1.

Promoting the pedaler. Nothing quite equals the moral smugness of a bicyclist as he or she gloatingly pedals past a long, gridlocked line of Route 1 or Route 130 commuters. "While cycle commuting has leveled off since '97," says TMA staffer Peter Bilton, "it has actually doubled within the last 10 years."

The Greater Mercer area holds legion of cyclers, backed for the most part by very helpful municipalities. For them TMA supplies the expertise. It begins with small promotion programs, such as the Bike to Work Days, held the third Friday of each month from 7:30 to 9 a.m. at Kopps Cycle in Princeton, offering a social break with refreshments. The TMA also provides board members to municipal bike-advocacy groups,.

TMA's latest project will soon allow cyclists to commute from the center of Princeton, along the towpath, all the way down to Riverside complex in Trenton. This new city and state funded project would unite old trails and create new, linking Stacy Park, the Assunpink, the floating docks by Waterfront Park and other stretches along the river.

Not every effort works, Bilton admits. The Freewheels Program, which eight years ago provided old bikes free on a use-once-and-return basis, experienced an unfortunate shift to use-once-and-purloin. However, he points out, even in the Netherlands, where the program originated, city officials soon found that all the bikes were being stolen. Not discouraged, Bilton is investigating a subscriber option for communal bikes, which he feels might work.

One area where we can least expect hope for fewer autos is technology. Currently a mere 106,000 New Jersey residents work at home. But this does not necessarily condemn central New Jersey to gridlock. A new option, Bus Rapid Transit, holds out the promise of substantial relief. It gives buses dedicated lanes, control over traffic lights, and special easements (see story, page 14).

We don't need to wait until Princeton, like Los Angeles, grips its average driver into 88 hours of traffic jams annually. If we pump a little power into our legs and a little into our state and local votes, perhaps we can keep our kids' air clean and our commuting byways something other than parking lots.

-- Bart Jackson

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Traffic Safety Cruiser

The New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety (NJDHTS) has a new traffic safety program, a "traffic safety cruiser" that can visit corporations to train drivers. This 20-year-old converted bus has a driving simulator, which represents a variety of real-life driving conditions such as weather, skids and drunk driving. It also has a safety video, a baby seat to demonstrate proper installation and 3D Fatal Vision goggles, which demonstrate a person's vision under the influence of alcohol.

The safety cruiser made its first stop at A-1 Limousine on Emmons Drive to provide a refresher course in safe and defensive driving for A-1's 450 professional chauffeurs. It also can be booked for public events and schools.

"The Garden State experiences some of the highest levels of accidents in the country resulting in injury and death," says Michael Starr, CEO of A-1. "We welcome this opportunity to partner with the NJDHTS and to educate and encourage A-1 Limousine drivers to continue to drive safely and responsibly. With more than 300 A-1 vehicles and 1,000 passengers on the road daily, safety is always a primary concern."

"Our mission is to reduce fatalities, injuries and property damage," says Sharane Orendas, supervisor of highway safety, of the division of highway traffic safety. Call her at 609-633-8727 to schedule a visit of the traffic safety cruiser.

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This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com -- the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.