NJ Transit released a new set of ridership figures that have supporters of the Monmouth Junction variant of the MOM Line crowing.
The figures show that the line running through Monmouth Junction would likely attract 27,450 riders per day, while the Matawan line would attract 24,050 riders and the Red Bank line would attract 16,800 riders. A study from 2005, which assumed a Newark terminus, projected that the Matawan route would have the most riders at 10,900 daily trips, followed by Monmouth Junction at 9,000 trips and Red Bank at 7,900 trips.
The change, according to NJ Transit, was based on two new assumptions: a change in destination from Newark to New York, thanks to a proposed new tunnel under the Hudson River; and new population estimates that go out an extra five years to 2030, which increases anticipated population in western Monmouth County.
I won’t dispute the numbers — NJ Transit didn’t provide a lot of background this week — but focusing solely on the ridership numbers, as Monmouth Junction supporters have been doing creates a misleading picture of the MOM debate. There also are the cost estimates, which peg the South Brunswick line as the most expensive to build and run. The Monmouth Junction alignment would cost $860 million to construct and $49 million to operate, compared to $600 million and $42 million for the Red Bank option and $730 million and $45 million for the Matawan option, according to a 2005 N.J. Transit study.
So consider this: The Monmouth Junction line would serve about 14 percent more riders, but cost about 18 percent more to build than the Matawan line.
In a time of tight budgets, the money should be an important factor — as should the concerns of the people in Middlesex County who would have to live along the route.
For southern Middlesex County, the Monmouth Junction alternative still makes no sense.
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Hank Kalet 