Council endorsesworker bus route

The Township Council passed an ordinance Tuesday that will help provide busing for low-income workers from Mercer County coming to work in South Brunswick.

By: Brian Shappell
The Township Council passed an ordinance Tuesday that will help provide busing for low-income workers from Mercer County coming to work in South Brunswick.
The council voted 4-1 to establish bus stops along the Route 130 Corridor for the Mercer County Workforce Investment Board, which will provide affordable transportation to Hamilton and Trenton residents seeking work in South Brunswick warehouses.
Committeewoman Carol Barrett said the service would provide a safer and less expensive service than several existing jitney services.
"This service affords workers to go from their home to their job," she said. "It transports them not only safely, but it only costs them $1."
Workforce works with businesses and economic development agencies to develop a quality workforce and ensure employment and advancement to jobseekers, many of whom are attempting to get off welfare.
The service still awaits endorsements from the Middlesex County Board of Freeholders before it goes to the state commissioner of transportation for final approval.
State traffic engineer William Anderson sent a letter to the township in January expressing support for the program. The bus service would cost riders $1 and provides them with a chance at employment opportunities outside their living area.
Mayor Debra Johnson, the only council member to vote against the ordinance, said there is a risk that the program could exploit economically disadvantaged workers.
She said the bus could encourage area employers to bring them here "to be treated badly and not be paid fairly. I don’t think it’s a good idea."
Ms. Barrett, a member of the Middlesex County Workforce Investment Board, defended the program’s merits. She said not supporting programs like Workforce will not help exploited workers, but the formation of worker unions would.
"Not getting people to the job is not the way of handling employers who treat them poorly," Ms. Barrett said.