Stephanie Anderson and Michael Hasling

Mercer County

Background Information: Mercer County was founded in 1838 from portions of Burlington, Hunterdon, Middlesex and Somerset counties. According to the United States Census data, the population of Mercer County is 350,761. Included in Mercer County are thirteen municipalities, four boroughs including Princeton and eight townships. Mercer County also boasts the state capital, Trenton. There are 133,280 housing units averaging out to 2.63 people per household. The population density per square mile is 1134.4, and there are 446.3 housing units per square mile.

Land Use: Mercer County covers 226 square miles of land. The density of this area varies greatly from place to place. In some places such as Trenton there is an extremely high population density; however, in places such as Plainsboro there are still large farms or protected green spaces so demand for personal rapid transit is lower. This poses a unique problem for the development of a transportation system since it would cost a lot to get to the edges of the county.

Transportation Demands: Major cities of Mercer County are Trenton, Princeton and Lawrenceville. These cities need a robust network of stations to ensure easy access to destinations by commuters, shoppers and schoolchildren. The median household income in Mercer County is $56,613, about $15,000 more than the national median. Higher income levels indicate a greater ability to afford transportation, but may also suggest Stephanie Anderson and Michael Hasling riders have higher expectations from transportation. To warrant giving up using a personal car, a rider will need an extra enticing PRT system that grants ease of movement and a faster commute.

Top employers of the county are: Sarnoff Corporation Xerox Corporation Medarex, Inc. SES Americom Inc. Siemens Corporate Research Inc

Major educational facilities: Princeton University Princeton Theological Seminary The College of New Jersey Rider University Thomas Edison State College Trenton Central High School Ewing High School Princeton High School

Current Transportation Options Mercer County is mainly serviced by New Jersey Transit rail lines and buses. The Northeast Corridor Line and River Line cross the county with stops at Princeton, Princeton Junction, Hamilton, Trenton, and Hamilton Avenue and Cass Street within Trenton. The train stations in Mercer County service a total of 12,000 people daily. In addition, light rail lines and the River Line provide transportation to another 4200 people. Bus service is available between major shopping centers, airports, and key city landmarks; however, bus stations are scattered and many people are not within a quarter mile walk of one.

PRT Implementation

Population Distribution: Mercer County has just a few areas of dense population; namely, Princeton and Trenton. Much of the county is scattered developments and special care must be taken not to waste too much track trying to reach a housing area of just 100 people while still trying to grant access to as much of the population as possible. Due to this distribution of the people, it is challenging to place stations within a quarter mile walk of all housing and still have the system be profitable.

Station Placement: Stations were placed such that they would best service different productions and attractions in the area. Starting with the densest part of the county and then working out toward less dense areas, stations were located by taking into consideration the quarter mile walk radius. When reaching the edges of the county we had to make judgment calls about whether or not it was economically practical to put a station in low density areas. The most helpful thing was creating the station circle Stephanie Anderson and Michael Hasling function. This allowed us to find places within Trenton that had been missed due to the holes in the network.

Dense Network of Stations

Network Layout: We decided the best way to connect the network was to think of it as interconnecting circles. Since all of the stations can only be “one in-one out,” the entire network is broken down into different smaller circles. These loops are connected with interchange points allowing people to move from one circle to another. This idea helped to avoid breaking the rules of networking as well as ensured that people could return to their point of origin.

Looping Network Stephanie Anderson and Michael Hasling

Service Availability:

Population Size 350,761 people People Served by PRT system 303,325 people Percent of Population Served 86.48% Percent of Attractions Accessible 88.22%

Cost of Implementing PRT System Cost per unit Total Cost Quantity (dollars) (dollars) Miles of Guideway (including 111 370 1,849 interchanges) miles 5 million million Number of Stations 489 2 million 978 million 1,820 Number of Vehicles 18,200 100,000 million 4,647 million

Characteristics of PRT Usage People Served by PRT System 303,325 people Average Daily Trips Per Person 4 trips Total Number of Trips Per Day 1,213,300 trips Cost Per Person $15,319 Cost Per Trip $3,830

Cost Analysis: Fare Needed to Pay for System Over 1 Year (300 Over 5 Years (1500 Over 10 Years travel days) travel days) (3000 travel days) Amount Paid Per $51.06 $10.21 $5.11 Person Each Day Amount Paid Per $12.77 $2.55 $1.28 Trip

Lower Costs: Currently, the median U.S. household spends 18% of its earnings on transportation, and the median household income in Mercer County is $56,613, so the median household in Mercer County spends roughly $10,190 on transportation. The average household in NJ has 2.63 person.1 Given $1.28 per trip, 4 trips per person, 2.63 persons per household, and about 300 travel days in a year, the average household would spend $4,039 per year on transportation. Even with rounding errors and differences between medians and averages, the PRT system would be significantly cheaper for a household than current transportation means.

1 http://www.census.gov/census2000/states/us.html Stephanie Anderson and Michael Hasling

Improving Design: To improve the design of the PRT system we could reexamine the existing transportation structure and better integrate the old and new networks. Also, in creating the new PRT system, we mostly looked at the best way to get people where they wanted to go and paid little consideration to whether a station or line was being placed on top of an existing structure like a football stadium. This is where shape points could have played a more vital role in our design. However, ultimately, the installation of a PRT network could include stations that go underground and preserve existing buildings as they currently stand. The addition of more interchange points would enhance travel through the network by reducing time until turn around opportunities. A commuter will not want to travel through half the county when a direct line path is shorter. In hindsight, a tighter loop system as well as more interchanges would strengthen the PRT network.