Route 130 bus service on schedule

A bus service for communters running along Route 130 from Cranbury to Hamilton is nearly ready to be launched.

By: Michael Arges
   EAST WINDSOR — The pieces all seem to be in place for a Route 130 bus to be in service this fall, East Windsor Mayor Janice Mironov said Wednesday.
   The Township Council will hear an update on the situation Monday.
   The mayor is hoping that the service will begin in mid to late September. This was the goal set at a late July meeting of the local municipalities and other agencies involved in the project.
   At that meeting participants identified the several requirements that needed to be fulfilled before the service could begin. All those steps appear to have been accomplished or to be in the final stages of completion, Mayor Mironov noted.
   The service had been delayed about a year, apparently by miscommunications about what administrative steps by state and local governments were needed for the service to proceed. Mayor Mironov called the July meeting to try to discover the causes of the delay and get the planned service back on track with a definite timetable for implementation.
   The idea for the bus service was initiated by the Mercer County Workforce Improvement Board and will be administered by the Greater Mercer Transportation Management Association. Service will be hourly through most of the day and will cost $1 for those not eligible for a subsidy. The service is expected to make it easier for employees to get to work at a number of factory, warehouse and other locations along the Route 130 corridor.
   "It does appear that we have been successful in putting all the pieces together, and we’re waiting for them to agree," the mayor said. "Everyone has done exactly what they agreed. The state has issued a go-ahead."
   All that is necessary is for the Workforce Improvement Board to announce a starting date, issue promotional material and put the bus into service, the mayor noted.
   All the municipalities through which the bus route runs have approved bus routes and stops, as required. These include East Windsor, Hamilton, Hightstown, South Brunswick and Cranbury.
   Mercer County has approved the use of county roads for the route and Middlesex County is in the process of doing so.
   "All those actions have moved forward with the help and assistance of the state Department of Transportation, which has kept to its promise of doing expedited reviews and processing of those actions," the mayor said.
   She expressed appreciation for the cooperation of Patricia Ott, the DOT’s director of traffic engineering.
   "The state has indicated that they are essentially giving the green light on those approvals," the mayor said. "As a result of all this cooperation and the meeting that we held and all the subsequent cooperation they are confident that those issues all have been addressed or are in the final stages of being addressed.
   The plans are for small buses to run hourly beginning at 5:30 a.m. and ending around midnight, with a one- or two-hour hiatus in the afternoon. The route will begin at the Hamilton train station and move through Washington, East Windsor and Hightstown before ending in Cranbury.