By Victoria Hurley-Schubert, Staff Writer
The Daytime FreeB, a free shuttle service around the Princetons, will continue to run throughout 2012 with funding approved by the joint governing bodies this week.
The $49,000 operating cost for the remainder of the year will be shared between the borough and the township and private funding.
The Daytime FreeB service costs about $310/day to operate, including fuel and maintenance. At current ridership of 28-29 people per day, that translates to $11.15 per ride.
”As we increase ridership, the cost per ride will go down, “ said Township Deputy Mayor Liz Lempert, speaking at the joint governing bodies meeting held at the township municipal building Monday night.
”That is still cheaper than Crosstown, which costs the municipality $14.15 per ride,” said Ms. Lempert. “That’s only available to seniors. It’s also cheaper than a cab ride.”
Included in that cost for the next 10 months is a $3,360 stipend for Stouts Transportation for the driver; $540 for maintenance and fuel. Fuel costs were calculated using figures provided by the borough engineering department, said Anton Lahnston, chair of the borough’s Traffic and Transportation Committee.
”I used the highest figure I could find for diesel,” he said. “The borough is buying diesel at a discount.”
There is also $700 for an additional loop during the lunch hour from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
”The bus runs from 9:30 to 3:30, but it does take this hour break in the middle of the day,” said Ms. Lempert. “Feedback from riders is it is really inconvenient to have that gap. We’d like to improve the service by adding in that hour so it runs continuously from 9:30 to 3:30.”
Princeton University has offered $10,000 to continue the service and Princeton Community Housing has offered $4,000, said Ms. Lempert. The remaining $35,000 will be split between the two towns if other private funds cannot be raised. Each town will be responsible for $17,500 if additional private monies do not come through.
The goals of the service are simple: increase transit ridership and reduce dependence on motor vehicles; reduce redundant services, improve connections between existing transit systems, identify gaps in service; provide increased and timely service to underserved population centers and support community businesses. The service began with a plan in Dec. 2008 and began running with a trial period in July 2011, said Mr. Lahnston. The concept for the Daytime FreeB service came about since the FreeB bus, which takes commuters to the Dinky station during the morning and evening rush hours, sat idle during the day, said Ms. Lempert.
”It’s really serving a need in the community we don’t have right now,” she said.
The bus runs thrice weekly on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays throughout the downtown and the Princeton Shopping Center areas. It picks up and drops off at population centers, such as Princeton Community Village, Elm Court, Queenstown Commons, Spruce Circle, where public transit is lacking. On Saturdays the route is altered to include a pick up and drop off at Redding Circle since the Suzanne Patterson Center is not open.
Riders can flag down the bus anywhere along the route in addition to the stops.
The funding for the Daytime FreeB trial came from donations from Princeton University, Institute for Advanced Study and Princeton Theological Seminary.

