EDITORIAL Survey negleted to address issues that would be of most concern to residents.
The numbers are overwhelming, but their meaning remains unclear.
Nearly three quarters of the respondents to a township transportation survey said they would support a rail station in South Brunswick. But the survey was not scientifically conducted and the questions were asked without context. That, to our way of thinking, makes it impossible to draw any firm conclusions from the results.
The survey asked only a handful of questions whether residents supported a rail station, how often they would use it and to where they would travel. But the issues likely to be of most concern to township residents location of the station, possible new development, traffic, the impact on local taxes, the cost of a train ticket versus a bus ticket were not addressed.
And these issues are key.
We recommend the township table the discussion until it can do more research and present it to the public. Once that happens, it should commission a scientific survey using generally agreed upon sampling methods and more in-depth questions to determine the actual level of support or opposition in the community.
The questions we believe need to be answered are:
1. Where would a station be built?
2. Would the station be part of a transit village or commercial development?
3. Would it require construction of new roads or expansion and renovation of existing roads?
4. Would it attract commuters from neighboring communities, such as Franklin and Monroe, and what impact would that have on traffic in the township?
5. How much would a station cost, who would pay for it and who would pay for infrastructure upgrades deemed necessary?
Without answering these questions, everything is just speculation.

