How to Create a Large Transportation Network in Somerset County, NJ

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1 Somerset County Introduction source: Somerset County is one of the smallest but wealthiest counties in New Jersey. It ranks first in per capita income for the state (and fourth in the country), is 305 square miles, and has a population of just 323, Much of its population includes New York City commuters who use New Jersey Transit stations to travel to work, and large parts of the county include sparsely populated neighborhoods and empty space, of which over 10,000 acres are devoted to parks. Its largest towns include Franklin Township, Bridgewater Township, and Hillsborough Township. Some of the largest attractions in Somerset County include Raritan Valley Community College and Somerset Christian College, Commerce Bank Park, the Bridgewater Mall, the U.S. Golf Association, and various employers whose headquarters are located within the county, such as pharmaceutical and chemical manufacturers. Many trips are also based on commuting into New York and other parts of New Jersey, so Park & Rides and rail stations attract many people. In total, in making the network Somerset County included 2,873 placemarks. Please see Orf467F08 reports for more extensive descriptions of the county including land use information and further trip information. 1

2 Initial Network The initial network I would create would be in the area around Raritan Valley Community College. This area is dense enough and has enough attractions so that it could be pretty profitable, and it would serve neighborhoods where students and others live, some workplaces, the college, as well as Bridgewater Mall, a very popular attraction. It would include just 19 stations, 6 interchanges, and 26 miles of guideway but serve 336,501 trip ends per day and connect to one New Jersey Transit train station. It would require a fleet size of 50 and have an average trip length of a mile. A network this small would be a good starting point and very useful for the students of the college and the surrounding residents, as well as workers in the area who needed to run errands or grab lunch. Trip ends served by station; Somerset Initial Trip ends served Name Number Home Work Rec Patron Transit Total a b c d e f g h I j k l m n o p q r s Total 19, , ,362 40, ,501

3 Trip ends served per station Highest to lowest Networks Statistics; Somerset County - Initial Average Occupancy Operating Costs Stations Interchanges Miles of Guideway Length Total Trip ends served Toal Trips Peak hour Trips Fleet size Average trip Length Fare (#) (#) (miles) (per day) (per day) (per day) (#) (Miles) (Trips/vehicle) , ,680 16, $ 2.00 $ 0.20 Basic Costs, Revenue; Somerset County - Initial Capital Costs Annual Recurring Costs Annual Revenue P&L Stations Guideway s Total Cost of Capital Maintenance Operating Total Fare Station lease and naming rights Total (M$) (M$) (M$) (M$) (M$) (M$) (M$) (M$) (M$) (M$) $ 38 $ 55 $ 178 $ 271 $ 22 $ 5 $ 3 $ 30 $ 65 $ 1 $ 65 $ 35 As you can see from the Revenue information, this small network could be very profitable even at a lower fare of $2.00 per trip (which would be nice as many poorer students live in the area), and the total capital cost could be paid off in about five years. For full station and trip information, please see Trip ends Initial Somerset.xlsx.

4 Ultimate Network As a wealthy and small county, Somerset is quite sparsely populated and therefore does not have that many areas that would create enough demand to make profitable stations. In past years, some reports have had upwards of 400 stations for the county; most of these would be expensive and unnecessary as it would not have enough residents to use these stations enough, creating losses. It does indeed have some large employers and areas of dense population, but in some places certain neighborhoods cannot be served. In order to best serve the residents and needs of the PRT users, we would attempt to put at least one station in every larger neighborhood, but it might require some people walking more than ¼ of a mile to their closest station. More urban areas have stations closer together, and every major school is served. In the final design, Somerset County would have 151 stations and 143 interchanges, with 339 miles of guideway length. This would serve 1,961,492 trip ends per day, for 403,588 trips per day, giving 87.64% service. Here is an overview of what the network would look like: To be as efficient as possible, the network would make use of two features: neighborhood loops and back and forth exchanges between interchanges. Loops allow patrons to get to the places they are most likely to want to travel in their own neighborhoods and towns as well as connect to the main network of track and interchanges in order to reach the rest of the county and state. Having many interchanges allows system users to go in different directions without having to go through many stations to get there, making trips faster and therefore making the system more efficient and popular.

5 Loop: Back and Forth Interchanges: Financial information would be as follows: Networks Statistics; Somerset County Average Occupancy Operating Costs Stations Interchanges Miles of Guideway Length Total Trip ends served Total Trips Peak hour Trips Fleet size Average trip Length Fare (#) (#) (miles) (per day) (per day) (per day) (#) (Miles) (Trips/vehicle) ,458, ,588 60, $ 3.00 $ 0.20

6 Basic Costs, Revenue; Somerset County Capital Costs Annual Recurring Costs Annual Revenue P&L Stations Guideway s Total Cost of Capital Maintenance Operating Total Fare Station lease and naming rights Total (M$) (M$) (M$) (M$) (M$) (M$) (M$) (M$) (M$) (M$) $ 302 $ 1,760 $ 666 $ 2,728 $ 218 $ 55 $ 61 $ 333 $ 363 $ 5 $ 369 $ 35 If the fare was set at $3 per trip as suggested by the example, total capital costs could be paid off in seventy-eight years. This higher fare would be feasible within the county due to the high income per capita. Trip Ends Served per Station Somerset County Series Station Trip ends served per station can vary from (by far) the highest station of 99,204 trips per day to several stations around 2,000. Some of the most important trip ends include links to every major New Jersey Transit rail station, as there are so many commuters into New York City in the county. It includes six stations: North Branch, Raritan, Somerville, Finderne, Bridgewater, and Bound Brook. For full station trip information, please see Trip Ends Somerset.xlsx.

7 Conclusion Though there are many open spaces and empty land in Somerset County, it has great potential for a PRT network. There does exist a challenge in overcoming sparsely populated neighborhoods, but residents there might be unlikely to want to use public transportation anyway and can afford to take their helicopters into work. Not many stations are required to cover a large percentage of the county s total trips, and it would provide a wealthy base of paying customers who would not mind slightly higher fares. source: