The TrainLink shuttle, which has taken park-and-riders from Princeton Forrestal Center to Princeton Junction Train Station for the past 17 years, could stop running this Spring. ##M:[more]##The bus line will lose 40 percent of its funding when Forrestal Center stops providing support for the service this May.
The shuttle, run by Greater Mercer Transportation Management Association, helps to ease parking and traffic problems at the station. The service is free for riders, and Forrestal’s support amounts to about $300 per day. “Their funding was intended to be seed money to get the service up and running,” said Sandra Brillhart, executive director of GMTMA. “It was always their intention to gradually wean off They’ve been supporting it since 1990, they’ve done more than they ever intended initially.”
The balance of the operational costs has been shared by Merrill Lynch, Munich Re America and NEC Laboratories. Those companies will meet with GMTMA on March 8 at 10 a.m. at Merrill Lynch to determine what can be done to save the service. Brillhart said several companies along College Road have been asked to attend the meeting as well, and she hopes they will see benefit in funding the service.
Approximately 125 commuters use TrainLink currently. It runs from the hours of 7 to 10 a.m. and from 3:30 to 7 p.m. Its schedule coincides with trains departing for or coming from New York, but Philadelphia riders use the service as well.
Brillhart said it is not likely that riders will be charged to use the service. “We have looked into that. I don’t know that it would contribute enough money to keep the service running,” she said.
