FROM THE STAR LEDGER (Newhouse Newspapers)
Friday, October 13, 2006
New transportation service will keep workers moving in the area
BY SUE EPSTEIN
Star-Ledger Staff
Workers at businesses along Jersey Avenue in New Brunswick and North Brunswick will have a new way to get to work sometime next year -- the Jersey Avenue shuttle.
The shuttle will link workers and businesses along the avenue with New Brunswick's downtown district and surrounding areas, officials announced yesterday.
The new transportation program will be financed through a $312,000 grant to Keep Middlesex Moving from the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority.
New Brunswick Mayor James Cahill said the shuttle will run the Jersey Avenue corridor because new schools, parks and a half-million square feet of warehouse space is springing up in the area.
Jersey Avenue will soon house 104,000 square feet of retail space and more than 200 apartments, Cahill said. He said there will also soon be 100,000 square feet of medical offices at an old factory.
William Neary, Keep Middlesex Moving's executive director, said his agency has contracted with Middlesex County Area Transit to provide the service, which will begin and end at the New Brunswick train station. The service is also expected to link to the New Brunswick trolley and the Somerset County Dash shuttle, Neary said.
Middlesex County Area Transit is the countywide shuttle system.
"The service will provide a vital link for employees from throughout the county," said Freeholder H. James Polos, the freeholder board's liaison to KMM, who is running for re-election next month. "Now, employees will be able to take the MCAT shuttles and NJ Transit buses or trains into downtown New Brunswick and link with this shuttle to get to their employers."
Neary said scheduling and routes are currently being drawn up. He said service is expected to begin early next year.
Staff writer Nawal Qarooni contributed to this story.