A Proposal for a Personal Rapit Transit System in the State of New Jersey

Transcription

1 A Proposal for a Personal Rapit Transit System in the State of New Jersey ORF 467 Transportation, Fall Princeton University Professor Alain L. Kornhauser January 15, 2008

2 2

3 i Project Contributors Atlantic Justin Karfo 09, Kai Ross 09 Bergen Rich Birge 08, Jayme Ranalli 08 Burlington Derrick Leung 08, Malik Saunders 08 Camden Pawel Buczak 10, Zach Woolridge 08 Cape May Justin Karfo 09, Kai Ross 09 Cumberland Michael Caswell 08, Justin Weinkle 08 Essex Philippe Kurzweil 08, Schuster Tanger 08 Gloucester Pawel Buczak 10, Zach Woolridge 08 Hudson Philippe Kurzweil 08, Schuster Tanger 08 Hunterdon Charles Hedlund 08, Shirley Li 08 Mercer Derrick Leung 08, Malik Saunders 08 Middlesex Kelsey Stallings 09, Kelly Stapleton 08 Monmouth Shriya Raghavan 09, Martin Valdez-Vivas 09 Morris Charles Hedlund 08, Shirley Li 08 Ocean Bryan Gartner 08, Fernando Gonzalez-Quintanill 08 Passaic Rich Birge 08, Jayme Ranalli 08 Salem Michael Caswell 08, Justin Weinkle 08 Somerset Chao Lu 08, Mengxi Ouyang 08 Sussex Margaret Orr 08, Karen Winterhof 09 Union Philippe Kurzweil 08, Schuster Tanger 08 Warren Margaret Orr 08, Karen Winterhof 09 Google Maps/Earth Tool Kit Aaron Linsky 08, Spencer Lucian 08, Irene Ndikumwenayo 09 County Integration Kyle Johnston 08 Advisor Professor Alain Korhnauser

4 ii

5 Contents 1 Camden County Existing Transit Service PATCO High Speed Line River LINE RiverLink Ferry Walter Rand Transportation Center Employment & Shopping Malls Recreation Education Primary and Secondary Education Camden County Community College Rutgers University, Camden iii

6 iv CONTENTS

7 Chapter 1 Camden County Figure 1.1: Welcome to Camden County, NJ Camden County spans square miles in southwestern New Jersey directly across the Delaware River from Philadelphia. It has 508,932 people living in 185,744 households. The City of Camden in the northwestern most section of the county is urban, but as one moves to the southwest, the population density steadily decreases as one moves through suburbs and eventually reaches the rural southwest portion of the county. The farther one is from Philadelphia, the more rural Camden County becomes. 1.1 Existing Transit Service PATCO High Speed Line The PATCO High Speed Line is a high-speed rail line that runs from the center of Camden County through Camden, over the Ben Franklin Bridge, and into Philadelphia. There are nine stops total in Camden County. The line starts in Lindenwold, where one access Atlantic City via a NJ Transit train. Then the line goes towards Philadelphia with stations in Voorhees, Cherry Hill, Haddonfield, Haddon Township, Collingswood, and three stops in Camden. The stops in Camden are at Ferry Avenue, Broadway, and City Hall. The Broadway stop provides access to the Walter Rand Transportation Center, which is somewhat of an unofficial transit hub for the county (described in detail below). Once the high-speed line passes over the Delaware River, it makes four stops in Philadelphia. The first is at 8th & Market near the shopping districts, the Pennsylvania Convention Center, the downtown business district, and the SEPTA Market East Station - one of the central subway stations in Philadelphia with links all over the city, including University City. The second station is 9th - 10th & Locust close to three major city hospitals. The third is 12th - 3th & Locust, which has a connection to the SEPTA Broad Street Line, which provides access to the Philadelphia professional sports stadiums. The last station is 15th - 16th & Locust, which is in the heart of the Theatre District. 1

8 2 CHAPTER 1. CAMDEN COUNTY The PATCO high-speed line is mainly used by commuters who go from Camden County into Philadelphia. The other twenty percent of riders are shoppers, sports fans, and students. Figure 1.2: Camden County PATCO Train River LINE The River LINE is a light rail line that starts in Camden and ends in Trenton, traveling along the Delaware River through Camden, Burlington, and Mercer Counties. The River LINE has six stations in Camden County. There are four in downtown Camden: the River LINE starts at the Camden Waterfront at the Entertainment complex, then stops at the NJ State Aquarium, then goes to the Camden campus of Rutgers University, and finally stops at the Walter Rand Transportation Center. Once the River LINE leaves downtown Camden, it makes a final stop within the city lines of Camden at 36th St. Then, there is one last station in Camden County on Route 73 in Pennsauken. The River LINE goes on to make 11 stops in Burlington County in townships along the Delaware River, none of which have connections to any other transportation systems. The line then enters Mercer County and makes three stops in downtown Trenton. The final station is Trenton, which links to Trenton Rail Station where the NJ Transit, SEPTA, and AMTRAK all provide train service along the Northeast Corridor toward both New York and Philadelphia. Commuters are not the focus of the River LINE, unlike the PATCO high-speed line. Most River LINE users are traveling to the end stations (Camden and Trenton) in order to see events such as concerts or sports matches. However, Trenton is usually not a final destination as many people continue on trains north towards the New York metropolitan area from the adjacent Trenton Rail Station RiverLink Ferry The RiverLink Ferry travels from the Camden waterfront area to Penn s Landing in Philadelphia. Many do not use this travel option as it takes the slow but scenic route across the Delaware River. The vast majority of RiverLink Ferry clients make use of the ferry before and after events at the Camden waterfront especially when there are concerts at the Tweeter Center Walter Rand Transportation Center The Walter Rand Transportation Center is a transportation hub located in the heart of downtown Camden. As mentioned previously, the transit center features stations for both the PATCO high-speed line and the River LINE. The Walter Rand Transportation Center also serves as a bus station for twenty-two NJ Transit buses.

9 1.1. EXISTING TRANSIT SERVICE 3 Figure 1.3: River LINE Train Figure 1.4: Roadway Map of Camden County Figure 1.5: Walter Rand Transportation Center

10 4 CHAPTER 1. CAMDEN COUNTY 1.2 Employment & Shopping There are over 3600 places of business in Camden County including retail stores, offices, and industrial centers. Almost all of the heavy industry in Camden County is located in the City of Camden along the Delaware River. Otherwise, the bulk of businesses in Camden County are offices and retail stores located in almost every municipality Malls Cherry Hill Mall Located in Cherry Hill. This is the largest mall in South Jersey. It currently holds 165 stores and is expanding. There are many adjoining restaurants and strip malls that are not officially part of the mall that make the area is high-traffic retail and recreation destination in the heart of Camden County. Voorhees Town Center Located in Voorhees. This is the third largest mall in South Jersey. Formerly known as the Echelon Mall, it has been downsized and completely renovated. As with the Cherry Hill Mall, there are many successful strip plazas surrounding the mall. 1.3 Recreation The main recreations in Camden County are movie theaters, museums, and the Camden Waterfront area. There are also other entertainment attractions such as the Clementon Water Park, Flyers Skate Zone, and Perkins Center for the Arts. Many Camden County residents travel to Philadelphia in search of recreational endeavors. Figure 1.6: Loews Cinema Camden 1.4 Education Primary and Secondary Education There are about 250 primary and secondary schools in Camden County. These include those in public school districts as well as both non-secular and religiously affiliated schools. The townships with the most schools in the county include Blackwood, Camden, Cherry Hill, Haddonfield, Pennsauken, Sicklerville, and Voorhees Camden County Community College Camden Community College (Camden County CC) is a New Jersey Public Community College with three different campuses in Camden County. The main campus is located in Blackwood, NJ while there are two smaller campuses located in downtown Camden near Rutgers Camden as well as in Cherry Hill Rutgers University, Camden Rutgers - Camden is a Division III school located in downtown Camden next to the Waterfront area. It has over 5000 undergraduate and graduate students.

11 1.4. EDUCATION 5 Figure 1.7: Rutgers - Camden Figure 1.8: PRT Network for Northern Camden Figure 1.9: PRT Network near Philadelphia

12 6 CHAPTER 1. CAMDEN COUNTY Figure 1.10: Loop Design in Camden PRT Network Figure 1.11: South-East Camden County PRT

13 List of Figures 1.1 Welcome to Camden County, NJ Camden County PATCO Train River LINE Train Roadway Map of Camden County Walter Rand Transportation Center Loews Cinema Camden Rutgers - Camden PRT Network for Northern Camden PRT Network near Philadelphia Loop Design in Camden PRT Network South-East Camden County PRT

14 8 LIST OF FIGURES

15 List of Tables 9