[net-gold] TRANSPORTATION: RAILROAD: PASSENGER: Proposal to Replace Princeton's Longtime 'Dinky' Train with Bus Line Saddens Sentimental Locals

  • From: "David P. Dillard" <jwne@xxxxxxxxxx>
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  • Date: Mon, 19 Jul 2010 01:32:31 -0400 (EDT)



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TRANSPORTATION: RAILROAD: PASSENGER:
Proposal to Replace Princeton's Longtime 'Dinky' Train
with Bus Line Saddens Sentimental Locals




Proposal to Replace Princeton's Longtime 'Dinky' Train
with Bus Line Saddens Sentimental Locals
Mike Frassinelli The Star-Ledger <http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/07/ quicker_cheaper_bus_may_replac.html>



A shorter URL for the above link:



<http://tinyurl.com/24cb2gj>



A proposal has been floated to replace the 145-year-old Dinky line, which predates the Orient Express and provides the shortest regularly scheduled commuter rail trip in America at 4 minutes and 47 seconds, with a bus rapid-transit system.


The Dinky shuttle, a 2.7-mile train run between Princeton Junction and Princeton University, has been in existence since 1865, the year the Civil War ended, Abraham Lincoln was buried and "Alices Adventures in Wonderland" was published. Albert Einstein enjoyed watching the Dinky and other Princeton Junction locomotives and used trains as examples to illustrate his theory of relativity.


The proposal to replace the Dinky line with two bus lanes dedicated exclusively to rapid transit in Princeton Borough and Princeton Township is in the informational stage and would need the approval of both towns. Even the most ardent supporters of a bus rapid-transit system admit it is at least several years away.


But the classic collision between the past and the future has commuters and history buffs worried. In only a few months, a "Save the Princeton Dinky" Facebook page has attracted nearly 6,400 fans opposed to replacing the train with a bus.


"You know the engineer. You know the conductor," commuter Marc Monseau, among the nearly 2,200 daily riders on the Dinky, said on a trip back to Princeton as he sat in one of the leather folding seats. "You end up doing business on the train. It becomes more of a community experience."




The complete article may be read at the URL above.



The Morning Dig: Death for Princetons Dinky Train? Posted on Monday May 17th by Daniel Lippman
The Infrastructurist
America Under Construction
<http://www.infrastructurist.com/2010/05/17/ the-morning-dig-death-for-princetons-dinky-train/>



A shorter URL for the above link:



<http://tinyurl.com/24cb2gj>



The dinky is a fast and efficient way to connect Princeton to the Princeton Junction station. Traffic going past Route 1 will be disastrous for a bus to take in rush hour, which is exactly the time of greatest use of the dinky. It will also make life for car commuters worse, as the big buses will be hard to get around on these little roads. This is a bad move. NJ Transit is usually smarter than this, I hope they change their mind.



Princeton Journal
Dinky or Bus? A Town Is Torn
New York Region
New York Times
<http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/15/nyregion/15metjournal.html>



PRINCETON, N.J. The run of the train known as the Princeton Dinky is both impressively long and unusually short. For 145 years, this rail link in a college town has ferried students and commuters over the briefest of distances. But Year 146 has not been kind to the nations shortest regularly scheduled commuter route, which travels a four-minute, 2.7-mile stretch of track between a small station at Princeton University and a larger one at Princeton Junction.


For one thing, New Jersey Transit, which operates the train, has raised Dinky fares and cut off-peak service, much as it has done with other trains and buses in these tight economic times. It has also consulted with local and university officials on a proposal to pave over the Dinkys tracks and install a bus system that would extend through the whole town. Such a system, supporters say, could reach more people, run more frequently than the Dinky and even ease a dispute that has long delayed the establishment of a university arts complex.



<snip>


Townspeople keen to preserve the train have flocked to a Save the Princeton Dinky Facebook group. In less than a month, the group has attracted about 4,400 members. Some of them are moved by nostalgia for the Dinky and others by practical concerns, like the difficulty a bus system would face in staying on time while navigating the often-crowded streets of Princeton.


[Facebook Dinky Page]

<http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=109785459051849>


<snip>


"If people get engaged in the process, then on balance Im hoping that theyll see that this is a way of progressing toward something better for Princeton, said Mr. Reed, a former mayor of the borough.


The bus makes sense in transportation terms, he said, but he argued that it would also allow the borough and the university to sidestep their long impasse over the schools planned arts complex. The university wants to move the Dinky station 460 feet farther south to make room for the complex, but the borough is resisting that idea because it would make the station a longer walk from town. The stakes are large: The complex will be financed partly with a $101 million gift from Peter B. Lewis, an insurance executive the largest donation Princeton has ever received.


The final decision on the Dinkys fate lies with New Jersey Transit.


Penny Bassett Hackett, a spokeswoman for the agency, said in an e-mail message that New Jersey Transit had originally proposed that the bus system operate alongside the Dinky. But both town and university leaders said that approach was impractical.




Bus service may replace Dinky
By Ameena Schelling
Senior Writer
Published: Friday, March 26th, 2010 The Daily Princetonian
<http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2010/03/26/25625/>



The Dinky trains whistle could soon fall silent, ending a transportation tradition stretching back to the mid-19th century. The Princeton Borough and Township governments are considering a plan to replace the Dinky with a bus rapid transit system.


Marvin Reed, chair of the Master Plan Subcommittee of the Princeton Regional Planning Board and former mayor of the Borough, introduced the plan before the Borough Council and the Township Committee at two separate meetings earlier this month.


The proposal, which would extend the systems route to Nassau Street and replace the current train tracks with a dedicated road for buses, as well as pedestrian and bicycle paths, is an update to an earlier suggestion by New Jersey Transit to augment train service with a bus line alongside the Dinky.


We have been talking with New Jersey Transit for several months now about a plan to create a bus rapid transit system, Reed said. The time has come to consider a much broader system [than the Dinky], and one that does much more.


The new bus system would run much more frequently than the Dinky does, at up to 10-minute intervals during peak hours, Reed said. The routes endpoint could also be extended from the Princeton train stations current location to Nassau Street, increasing accessibility for commuters, and even to local shopping centers and other destinations throughout the community.



June 17th, 2010 | Go to Making Places Blog Home Uncovering the Tracks: Reconnecting Historic Train Stations to the Communities They Serve Posted by: Craig Raphael Categories: Building Communities through Transportation, Historic Preservation, Transportation
PPS Project for Public Spaces
<http://www.pps.org/uncovering-the-tracks/>



Let Them Eat Cake!
Art, Politics & Justice in America & Elsewhere
Saturday, May 15, 2010
In Which Save The Dinky!
<http://theyhavenobread.blogspot.com/2010/05/in-which-save-dinky.html>


I myself enjoyed the Dinky's comforts many times during my college years - which, in case you were wondering, might best be described as "Fitzgeraldesque" - and it is for that reason that I am shocked and appalled that there is a movement afoot to replace it with a bus system. A bus system. My God.


<snip>


If Princeton has much to gain from replacing the good old Dink with a bus system, it has much to lose as well. And so I say, as unironically as I am able, Save The Dinky




Marc Monseau Story in Today's Star Ledger. I totally disagree with the point the reporter makes that this is about a sentimental attachment to the Dinky. To me this is about a sustainable and reliable transit solution that fits the needs of Princeton and the surrounding area. Unfortunately, they also take Reed at his word that ...the BRT line would be less expensive and more efficient than the current service.


<http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=109785459051849>




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  • » [net-gold] TRANSPORTATION: RAILROAD: PASSENGER: Proposal to Replace Princeton's Longtime 'Dinky' Train with Bus Line Saddens Sentimental Locals - David P. Dillard