Include Dinky in a regional transit system

PACKET EDITORIAL, Nov. 24

By: Packet Editorial
   Princeton’s venerable Dinky — the little train that makes the shortest regularly scheduled railroad trip in the United States, shuttling back and forth between University Place in Princeton Borough and the Princeton Junction train station in West Windsor — faces an uncertain future.
   Not that this is anything new. The Dinky, known more formally as the Princeton Branch of NJ Transit’s Northeast Corridor rail line, has for years been a marginal operation at best. It has never quite paid for itself, but has always attracted a sufficient number of riders (many of whom have friends in high places) to keep the service going.
   Every time NJ Transit contemplates either curtailing service on the Dinky or shutting it down altogether, the outcry has resonated from Nassau Hall to Wall Street to the State House in Trenton. Princeton University administrators, faculty, staff and students are among the heaviest users of the Dinky, and it holds enormous sentimental value for influential alumni — who recall fondly the days when their dates from Smith, Vassar and Bryn Mawr would arrive at the University Place station for amorous weekend trysts.
   Many daily commuters to New York are also dependent on the Dinky. Though business isn’t nearly as brisk at the Princeton end as it is out at the Junction, there are enough high-level corporate executives, successful stockbrokers, well-heeled investment bankers and others riding those 2.7 miles every day to make state transportation officials and politicians think twice about messing with their livelihoods.
   At the moment, the Dinky’s continued existence is not imperiled — but a number of concerns have surfaced regarding its form, function and physical location some years down the line.
   For starters, there’s been a lot of talk among transportation planners in the region about creating a bus rapid transit system, a network of buses running fixed routes along designated rights of way, to serve the Route 1 corridor. One of those rights of way could presumably be the Dinky rail bed.
   In addition, Princeton University, as part of its plan to create an "arts neighborhood" centered around McCarter Theatre, is proposing to straighten University Place, have it link up with Alexander Road farther south, and move the Dinky station 500 feet in that direction. (University officials envision this realignment taking what is now a less-than-appealing "back door" into the university and community and turning it into a more attractive "front door.") While the handsome stone building that once housed the ticket office is no longer used — and could therefore presumably remain where it is and be put to some productive purpose, perhaps as a visitors’ center, café or restaurant — the automated ticket machines, platform, kiss-and-run spaces and other short- and long-term parking would all have to be relocated accordingly.
   Municipal officials, affected commuters and interested citizens all have a stake in these and other potential transportation initiatives that could have a direct and lasting impact on the Dinky. To address their questions and concerns, Borough Councilman Andrew Koontz and Planning Board member and former borough Mayor Marvin Reed have scheduled a public forum for 8 p.m. Monday at Borough Hall.
   Their objective is not — nor should it be — to erect barriers to the proposed BRT system or the university’s "arts neighborhood" development. To the contrary, the forum should focus on ways to integrate the service provided by the Dinky into a much-needed regional public transportation network and a redesigned, more welcoming entrance into Princeton. To that end, we’re confident the organizers will keep the discussion — and the Dinky — on track.