East Brunswick Commuter Parking Advisory Committee July 2008

The Commuter
New TCC Opening: The opening of the new TCC is now expected for some time in September.
This will be a period of major transition with new traffic flows, a large number of returning
commuters back from Nielsen Plaza and new commuters to this new facility; two entrances, one
each for monthly permit parkers and daily parkers. The new facility can park 1680 cars, and
extensive planning on the part of the commuting public, Suburban Transit, and Parking Utility
officials, is going to be required for a smooth transition to take place. It is the intention of CPAC to
have that happen as much as possible. Clearly the new TCC will have heavier traffic flow, a
greater demand for bus seats and general confusion when it first opens. It will also have a new
electronic day parking collection system in operation. The CPAC has requested several times for a
bus service scheduling discussion that will address concerns of the East Brunswick commuting
public: frequency of buses to all three NY city locations, hours of operation, direct service (without
a stop at Neilson Plaza) when appropriate, and first class dispatcher service. The CPAC will also
request that there are sufficient qualified people on hand to help us through this dramatic change.
If you have any comments, concerns, or recommendations, please attend the next scheduled
CPAC meeting or send an email to us at ebcommuter@ yahoo.com.

July CPAC Meeting: Our July CPAC meeting had numerous special guests and was very
informative for all of those that attended the meeting. We will report on this meeting in a future
issue of The Commuter. In addition, the meeting was videotaped by The Library and we will let
commuters know when it is being broadcast on Channel 3.

Monthly Parking Permits: As we have been reporting for months, additional parking permits will
soon be issued by the Parking Utility. Any East Brunswick resident that wishes to have a permit for
either parking facility should apply immediately. You can find the application at:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/3100974/Permit-application. Non-residents are also invited to apply to
be added to TCC permit waiting list by completing an application that can be found at:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/3946032/Permit-waiting-list-application-nonresident. Non-residents may
NOT apply for a Neilson permit at this time. If you have additional questions, please contact the
Parking Utility at parkandride@ eastbrunswick.org or 732-390-6836.

Suburban Monthly Pass: The CPAC recently sent out an extensive e-mail comparing the cost of
Suburban monthly commuter pass ($260) to the 10 trip ($64). The conclusion of this careful
analysis is that with the pass requiring 20.3 commuting days during its period ($260/$12.80), that
very few commuters, if any, benefit financially from purchasing this pass unless they commute
more than 5 days per week. You can see the full text of this discussion at our Topica site at
http://lists.topica.com/lists/ebcnews/read.

Rt. 18 Bus Traffic Improvements Under Review: We reported in an e-mail that NJ DOT is
considering possible improvements in the bus traffic flow on Rt. 18 north of the TCC. We thank
Sen. Buono for her help with this effort. In our view, the success of the new TCC will be heavily
dependent upon buses being able to get between TCC and Exit 9 without being unduly delayed in
traffic on a regular basis. The stimulus for our requesting this review was the fact that NJ DOT is in
it process of similar efforts on Rt. 1 and Rt. 9, both of which are also heavily used by buses. We
believe that Rt. 18 is no less deserving of such an effort. We look forward to continue working with
Sen. Buono, the Township, NJ DOT and all other interested parties in making the new TCC facility
as successful as possible for East Brunswick commuters.
August CPAC Meeting: Our next meeting is currently scheduled for Wed., August 11 at 8:00 p.m.
in the Municipal Building Conference Room. Any changes in the meeting time or location will be
posted on our calendar at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EBCommuter/cal. All interested
commuters, whether or not you are a resident, are welcome to attend and participate in our
discussion. Please ALWAYS check the calendar prior to attending so you will not be surprised by
an unexpected last minute change.

Crosstown Schedule Change: After months of requests by the CPAC, Suburban is finally
adjusting the TCC Crosstown service to add another Crosstown bus around 8:00 a.m. This change
will also effect TCC PABT commuters and result in one TCC Crosstown bus becoming an
originator at Neilson. We think almost every one benefits from this change. We only wish that
implementation had not taken so much time and effort.

Driver Compliments: We all know that the right bus driver can make a huge difference in our daily
commute. The difference between a good driver and a not so good driver can mean the difference
between making or not making an important meeting. Some drivers also go out of their way to
assist passengers. If you observe a driver doing something special, please let us and Suburban
know. We would like to publicly thank those drivers that do such an important job for us every day.

Clever Commute: The CPAC has recently assisted in the implementation of a commuter
operated, real-time commuter information service. The New York Times had a recent article
discussing this service (you can access it at http://tinyurl.com/ysegzm). This third party operated
service permits commuters with SMS capable cell phones or smartphones such as BlackBerries to
send and receive real-time message to other commuters that have signed up for the listserv. This
service is designed to rapidly distribute short, real time messages to commuters regarding
commuter service issues such as tunnel problems, highway disruptions, etc. To join the service, go
to Clever Commute at http://clevercommute.com/RoutesAndSignUp.php. Once there, please select
"Commuter Bus" under Item 2 as the Provider Type. Then select "East Brunswick Lines." You will
then have to confirm your registration. All messages on this service come from your fellow
commuters, so the more commuters that sign up for and use this service, the more effective it will
become. Please send messages when there is something useful to share, but keep in mind that
this listserv is not moderated in order to keep it real-time. This service is not operated by the CPAC
and is not meant as a substitute for our other listservs.

HVAC Settings: Our Township's agreement with Suburban Transit on this issue is two-fold: (1)
Bus temperatures will be set as much as physically possible to 72° F year round and (2) the bus air
circulation system should be operating at all times. If either rule is not being followed, please report
this to Suburban Transit or the CPAC for follow up with sufficient detail (bus number, date, time,
etc.) for appropriate action to be taken. PLEASE DO NOT ASK A DRIVER TO VIOLATE THESE
POLICIES BY CHANGING THESE SETTINGS. If you are cold (or warm) please put on a coat,
move to another part of the bus or just recognize that not every passenger can be satisfied 100%
of the time. Thank you for your cooperation.

Emergency Safety Phone Number: Suburban Transit has a special 24/7 emergency safety
number that you can call and report any incident of which you are concerned. This phone number
can also be found on the back of every Suburban Transit operated bus.

Receive Newsletter and Commuter Service Information by E-mail

The CPAC delivers newsletters and other information by e-mail as it becomes available. To
subscribe, send an email to ebcnews-subscribe@ topica.com. Then reply when you get the sign up
confirmation message. You may cancel your subscription at any time The CPAC will not
disseminate your email address or use it for any other purpose. Our normal e-mail address
remains ebcommuter@ yahoo.com.

The Commuter July 2008