NJ Transit is expected to provide preliminary findings of its ‘Princeton Transitway’ study in the month of November 2021. That was the news from Council Member Mia Sacks, the liaison between the Princeton Transit Advisory Committee and Princeton Council. Speaking on Monday evening, at the regular Princeton Council meeting, Council Member Sacks advised her colleagues that the Transit Advisory Committee had been in touch with NJ Transit, and had learned last week that a report was expected in November.

The Dinky Corridor study was launched earlier this year, and public consultation was held in the spring. Four options were being explored to replace the aging Arrow III trains that are currently in use on the line between Princeton and Princeton Junction rail stations:

• A roadway with embedded rail that could support both rail and rubber-tired transit vehicles.
• A stand-alone rail corridor with a parallel roadway for rubber-tired tram and/or bus service.
• A roadway with a guideway that could support a rubber-tired tram and buses.
• A ‘no build’ option using the existing Arrow III cars or similar rail vehicle.

The Princeton Community Master Plan also calls for a cycle track to be added along the Dinky Line right-of-way if possible. NJ Transit spent the summer considering public feedback, with a final decision having been expected in ‘Fall 2021’. The upcoming report in November is not expected to make a final recommendation, however. Council Member Sacks advised that the report was more likely to present advantages and disadvantages of four categories, and would represent a ‘general foundation’ for any subsequent decision to replace / upgrade the current Dinky trains or keep it as it is.

The video of the Monday Council Meeting is below. Council Member Sacks’s comments about the Dinky Corridor Study begin at 0:14′:00.