Final Report Northwest New Jersey Bus Study December 2010 This report has been prepared under the direction of the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority and NJ TRANSIT, New Jersey’s public transportation agency, with financing by the Federal Transit Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation. This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Transportation in the interest of information exchange. The NJTPA is solely responsible for its contents. Northwest New Jersey Bus Study - Assumptions Impacting Baseline Conditions February 2011 The Northwest New Jersey (NWNJ) Bus Study was substantively completed in the spring of 2010. Prior to the completion of the final report in December 2010, there were several changes in the assumptions that went into the report that change some of the baseline conditions described in Chapter 2, but do not have a significant impact on the study’s findings. The first was the reduction and elimination of certain transit services in the study area in the spring of 2010 due to severe fiscal challenges facing the state and local agencies. The second was the discontinuation of the Access to the Region’s Core Project in the fall of 2010. Each of these changes and their impact on the study’ findings are explained below. In the spring of 2010, NJ TRANSIT proposed a system-wide set of fare increases and service reductions to address a severe budget deficit faced by the agency. As part of these cuts a number of local routes operating largely within Morris County were proposed for elimination based on low ridership, low farebox recovery and the withdrawal of local financial support for some routes. Routes originally proposed for elimination included the MCM1, MCM2, MCM3, MCM 4, MCM5, MCM7, 966, 967, and 973 bus lines. After extensive outreach, feedback and public hearings NJ TRANSIT discontinued the following routes: MCM4, MCM5, and MCM7 as of May 1, 2010 and the 967 and 973 were discontinued as of July1, 2010. The NWNJ Bus Study had noted all of these routes as weaker performing routes and identified them for either elimination or significant route restructuring. The remaining Morris County local routes underwent significant restructuring to address regional needs. NJ TRANSIT staff started with reviewing the service recommendations from the NWNJ Bus Study. Not all Morris County-oriented recommendations from the NWNJ study were implemented due to budget constraints and feedback from local stakeholders in Morris County. In early October 2010, a final package of service changes were approved and a new set of local Morris bus routes 871, 872, 873, 874, 875, 878, 879 and 880 were implemented. In the balance of the study area including Sussex, western Passaic and northern Warren Counties, the discontinuation of the 976 and 973 minibus routes impacted some of the findings for shuttle restructuring and the elimination of some Montclair-Boonton Line trains west of Montclair may impact the scale of future transit hubs. The findings from the NWNJ Bus Study directly influenced the service restructuring and assisted NJ TRANSIT in maximizing resources and meeting service needs. On October 27, 2010 New Jersey officially cancelled the Access to Region’s Core (ARC) Project. The ARC project called for the construction of a new rail tunnel to New York City, which would have increased the number of trains into New York City from all over New Jersey, including some from the NWNJ study area. While ARC was considered in the assumptions for the NWNJ Bus Study, its discontinuation has little impact on the study’s findings. While workers from the study area do travel to New York City, less than 5 percent of all work trips originating from the study area are destined to Manhattan. Commuter trips beginning and ending entirely within the study area make up the largest overall market among workers, with a share of 75 percent. The cancellation of the ARC project generally does not impact the primary study findings which concentrate on improvements to local public transit services, upgrading and expanding bus facilities, and leveraging the existing interstate bus service to better serve the study area. The findings of this study remain valid and create a blueprint for future bus improvements. Table of Contents 1. Introduction................................................................................................................... 1-1 1.1 Study Purpose and Background .................................................................................................1-1 1.2 Study Organization .....................................................................................................................1-1 1.3 Study Area and Key Corridors ....................................................................................................1-2 1.4 Overview of Study Outreach Process.........................................................................................1-4 1.5 Context: Relevant Past and Concurrent Studies and Efforts ......................................................1-6 1.6 Report Organization....................................................................................................................1-7 2. Existing and Baseline Future Conditions................................................................... 2-1 2.1 Population...................................................................................................................................2-1 2.2 Demographics.............................................................................................................................2-6 2.3 Existing and Baseline Future Transportation System ...............................................................2-13 2.4 Bus and Shuttle Services..........................................................................................................2-21 2.5 Human Services Transportation ...............................................................................................2-34 2.6 Current Ridesharing Programs .................................................................................................2-35 2.7 Current Travel Patterns and Transit Share ...............................................................................2-36 2.8 Future Baseline Travel Patterns ...............................................................................................2-47 3. Identification of Target Markets and Problems to be Addressed............................. 3-1 3.1 Summary of Transit Markets in the Study Area ..........................................................................3-1 3.2 Rider Opinions............................................................................................................................3-1 3.3 Stakeholder Input........................................................................................................................3-4 3.4 Traveler Opinions from Web Survey...........................................................................................3-5 3.5 Improvement Needs ...................................................................................................................3-7 3.6 Improvement Concepts...............................................................................................................3-8 3.7 Development of Service Proposals...........................................................................................3-10 3.8 Service Guidelines....................................................................................................................3-11 4. Technical Analysis/Development of Candidate Improvements................................ 4-1 4.1 Proposed Service Improvements................................................................................................4-1 4.1.1. Service Concepts for the Sussex – Passaic Corridors .......................................................4-1 4.1.2. Service Concepts for the Sussex – Morris Corridors........................................................4-14 4.1.3. Service Concepts for the Morris County Corridors ...........................................................4-18 4.1.4. Service Concepts for the Warren – Morris Corridors........................................................4-30 4.1.5. Evaluation of Proposed Service Improvements................................................................4-36 4.2 Candidate Running Way Improvements ...................................................................................4-42 4.2.1. Types of Improvements....................................................................................................4-42 4.2.2. Evaluation of Running Way Improvements ......................................................................4-48 4.2.3. Summary of Findings .......................................................................................................4-53 Northwest New Jersey Bus Study FinalI. Report- December 2010 i 4.3 Candidate Passenger Facilities ................................................................................................4-57 4.3.1. Types of Passenger Facilities ..........................................................................................4-57 4.3.2. Assessment of Existing Park-and-Rides (by corridor) ......................................................4-58 4.3.3. Strategies for Existing Passenger Facilities .....................................................................4-67 4.3.4. New Shared-Use