Bus service may replace Dinky

Marvin Reed, chair of the Master Plan Subcommittee of the Princeton Regional Planning Board and former mayor of the Borough, introduced the plan before the Borough Council and the Township Committee at two separate meetings earlier this month.

The proposal, which would extend the system’s route to Nassau Street and replace the current train tracks with a dedicated road for buses, as well as pedestrian and bicycle paths, is an update to an earlier suggestion by New Jersey Transit to augment train service with a bus line alongside the Dinky.

“We have been talking with New Jersey Transit for several months now about a plan to create a bus rapid transit system,” Reed said. “The time has come to consider a much broader system [than the Dinky], and one that does much more.”

The new bus system would run much more frequently than the Dinky does, “at up to 10-minute intervals during peak hours,” Reed said. The route’s endpoint could also be extended from the Princeton train station’s current location to Nassau Street, increasing accessibility for commuters, and even to local shopping centers and other destinations throughout the community. Buses would also be equipped with technology enabling them to control traffic lights along their route to reduce delays.

The current two-car Dinky train runs three miles from the edge of the University’s campus to the Princeton Junction train station, providing an access point to NJ Transit and Amtrak routes on the Northeast Corridor train line. But the 145-year-old service has been faltering in recent years, officials from both the Borough and the University said.

“I think all of us have been worried over recent years watching the Dinky reduce in frequency and reliability,” Vice President and Secretary Bob Durkee ’69 said, noting that community members and state transportation officials have expressed similar concerns.

“New Jersey Transit has been scaling back on the hours that the Dinky runs,” he explained. “It’s an expensive service for New Jersey Transit to operate and to keep in good repair.”

Durkee said the University is committed to preserving “an effective mass-transportation connection” to Princeton Junction, adding that “a lot of the conversation [within the community and with NJ Transit] has recognized that the Dinky is not a viable, reliable long-term solution.”

This is not the first time the University has supported changes to the current Dinky system. To make room for the proposed Arts and Transit Neighborhood, the University’s 10-year Campus Plan proposed moving the Princeton train station 460 feet south of its current location.

The proposed bus route could still be worked into the future construction, Durkee noted, saying that the University will continue to follow community discussion.

“We ... need to have some idea of what the long-term plan is going to be, because it affects how we design the Arts and Transit Neighborhood,” he added.

Reed noted that being able to extend the route to Nassau Street would also relieve local concerns over the additional walk that moving the station south would necessitate for commuters.

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The bus rapid transit proposal is still under consideration and will be further discussed by both the Township and the Borough governments before firmer details are resolved.

Several students and local residents said they were not concerned about the possible service changes.

Charles Schneider, who works at the Office of the Vice President for Finance and Treasury at 701 Carnegie Center, said he is a regular Dinky traveler and “would be all for” the new system because of the increased frequency of service.

Brian Lesh ’12 also cited the advantages of the potential new system, noting that “maybe the bus would be able to run later at night.” His main concern, however, was simply getting to Princeton Junction, he said.

Both the new bus rapid transit plan and the University’s initial plan to move the train station have been criticized by some residents concerned about preserving what they see as a traditional part of Princeton’s history.

Yet the overriding goal should be ensuring that a functional transportation route is maintained between Princeton and Princeton Junction, Durkee said.

“Like most people, I would rather ride a train than a bus, but most importantly, I’d rather ride a vehicle that’s moving and getting me there than not,” he said. “No matter how attached you might be to the train, and to that particular train — and I’m someone who’s very much attached to it — it doesn’t help if it’s not running.”

—Staff writer Henry Rome contributed reporting.