Bus rapid transit service would be feasible in the Mercer-Middlesex Route 1 corridor only if key municipalities greatly increase employment and residential densities, according to a NJ Transit analysis.

Transit spokespeople told the Central NJ Transportation Forum, a group of civic and municipal leaders, that West Windsor and Plainsboro townships would have to concentrate 26,000 jobs and 2,600 households in areas that would be served by the rapid bus service for it to attract 760 peak hour riders.

The service modeled by NJ Transit would run between Route 1 and the Northeast Corridor rail line from an I-295 park-and-ride in Lawrence to South Brunswick.  The main-line busway would be fed by numerous local routes.

It remains to be seen whether the municipalities in the corridor are interested in significantly densifying development in order to support mass transit.  Most of the bus rapid transit systems being developed in the United States will operate in urban settings like Boston and Los Angeles, or serve express bus routes from suburbs to central business districts (for instance, the New Britain-Hartford busway — MTR #364).Routes in urban north Jersey not well-served by Newark- and NYC-oriented rail service may be better candidates for rapid bus development than suburban corridors further south.

Another study conducted for the forum found that congestion in the area is likely to worsen despite plans for new roads like Route 92 and the Millstone Bypass, and whether or not transit service in the corridor is augmented. 

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