Middlesex County

Middlesex County

Further factual information, statistics, and population breakdown may be found at:

http://www.co.middlesex.nj.us/facts.asp

Census 2000 data for Middlesex County, NJ: http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/34/34023.html

Overview

LOCATION: Middlesex County, also known as the "Heart" of New Jersey is located squarely in the center of New Jersey and stretches from the Rahway River south to Mercer and Monmouth Counties and form Raritan Bay on the Atlantic Ocean west to Somerset County. The county is 318 square miles in size, has 25 municipalities, which includes the City of New Brunswick, the seat of Middlesex County Government and extensive industrial, office, and residential areas. Bisected by the Raritan River, the county is topographically typical of Central Jersey in that it is largely flat, with minimal relief. The highest point is a hill in a residential neighborhood in South Brunswick Township of approximately 300 feet (91.4 m) above sea level; the low elevation is sea level.

HOUSING AND POPULATION: Middlesex County has been one of the fastest growing counties in the State, having an estimated population increase between 1970 and 1990 of 87,967 persons. Preliminary population projections for 2000 are estimated at 745,000 while the population is projected to increase to nearly 796,000 by the year 2010.

As population grows so must housing as evidence by 45.7% increase in housing units since 1970 including new homes and apartments. As of 1990, the county estimates that it now has 250,174 housing units. This is an average of 784 units per square miles. Firms relocating to Middlesex County bring jobs and people and offer the progressive developer various opportunities.

As of the census of 2000, there are 750,162 people, 265,815 households, and 190,855 families residing in the county. The population density is 935/km² (2,422/mi²). There are 273,637 housing units at an average density of 341/km² (884/mi²).

There are 265,815 households out of which 34.20% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.00% are married couples living together, 10.80% have a female householder with no husband present, and 28.20% are non-families. 22.40% of all households are made up of individuals and 8.70% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.74 and the average family size is 3.23.

Census 2000 U.S. Housing Unit Count

Housing Distribution (2000)

Source: US Census Bureau

In the county the population is spread out with 23.70% under the age of 18, 9.50% from 18 to 24, 32.80% from 25 to 44, 21.70% from 45 to 64, and 12.30% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 36 years. For every 100 females there are 96.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 93.50 males.

The median income for a household in the county is $61,446, and the median income for a family is $70,749. Males have a median income of $49,683 versus $35,054 for females. The per capita income for the county is $26,535. 6.60% of the population and 4.20% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 7.20% of those under the age of 18 and 6.00% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.”[1]

EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES: Serving approximately 100,000 primary and secondary school students are 175 public school, five County vocational-technical Schools, and over 70 parochial and private schools. Middlesex County College, a two-year education center for academic and technical training, was one of the first in the State. Graduate level studies are available at Rutgers, The state University of New Jersey. Located in Middlesex County are five main Rutgers campuses; Rutgers College, Cook College, Douglas College, Kilmer Campus, and the Busch Campus Home of New Jersey College of Medicine and Dentistry. Adjacent to Cook College is the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, a nationally recognized research center The Forrestal Campus of Princeton University is located in Middlesex County, with Princeton University's main campus nearby.

Higher Education

1.  Middlesex County College (Edison) – a Community College in the heart of New Jersey founded in 1966 offering over 80 associate degree and certificate programs to 11,800 students.

2.  Princeton University - Forrestal Campus (Plainsboro)

3.  Rutgers, The State University (New Brunswick, Piscataway)

4.  University of Medicine and Dentistry (New Brunswick)

5.  Devry University (North Brunswick)

MEDICAL CENTERS: Middlesex County has five major hospitals, four of them being in the top ten employers for the county, with a total bed space of 1,900. They include:

1. JFK Medical Center (Edison)
2. Raritan Bay Medical Center (Old Bridge)
3. Raritan Bay Medical Center (Perth Amboy)
4. Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (New Brunswick)
5. St. Peters University Hospital (New Brunswick)

RECREATION: The Middlesex County Department of Parks and Recreation operates 18 county parks encompassing 6,600 acres. Thirteen of these parks contain active recreational facilities and five others are conservation areas or are being held for future recreational development. The County has acquired over 5,000 acres of open space through the Open Space Trust Fund, and an active farmland preservation program has preserved 3,400 acres. The Middlesex County Improvement Authority operates three golfing facilities: The 36 hole Tamarack Golf Course in East Brunswick, the Meadows at Middlesex in Plainsboro, and the Raritan Landing Golf Course in Piscataway.

County parks offer a wide range of excellent facilities, such as East Jersey Olde Towne, a collection of restored, reconstructed and replica buildings from the 18th and 19th centuries in Johnson Park. Popular programs are also featured, including "Plays-in-the-Park" series at the Stephen J. Capestro Theater in Roosevelt Park. There are also numerous private recreational complexes in the County, including golf centers and courses.

HOTELS/CONFERENCE CENTERS: There exist over 50 hotel and conference centers in Middlesex County providing over 7,800 rooms for accommodation. The locations of all these hotels and conference centers lay on the major highway and county roads crossing through Middlesex County.

Source: http://www.co.middlesex.nj.us/hotelconference.asp

Work-force Statistical Data

TOP EMPLOYERS:

Source: Middlesex County Office of Economic Development; January 2005

Workers 2000

Transport To Work 2000

Car, Truck or Van

As is seen, in Middlesex County over 50% of the workforce, totaling 190,000+ of the 370,000+, live within a half-hour of their area of work. Considering that over 85% of the workers commute using a motor vehicle, and assuming that the maximum speed one averages through rush hour traffic to be 50 mph (which is extremely generous), then the entire workforce is relatively centrally located within an approximate 20-25 mile radius from their place of employment.

Middlesex County contains 87 separate industrial parks for all of its residents. Again, shown below is a numbered map of all of their locations.

Source: http://www.co.middlesex.nj.us/industrial_busn.asp

PRT Network

GOAL: The classic small vehicle PRT for Middlesex County will consist of off-line stations interconnected with primarily one-way guideway that is networked using at grade-separated interchanges. The goal of the PRT network is to provide service to 90% of all trips within the county with a PRT station no more than 3/8 mile from origin/destination. The additional desire is to achieve this “ubiquity of access” with the minimum number of stations and to interconnect those stations with the minimal length of one-way guideway subject to a soft constraint of not requiring an exorbitant amount of detouring because of the one-way nature of the guideway.

Looking at the above maps and data for Middlesex County, it is apparent that the highly traveled areas and most used areas for both business and hotels lay along the major roadways. As stated in the NJFIT website, the current set-up for transportation feeds local roads as quickly as possible to the major state highways.

With this in mind, the PRT system must deliver the residents, highlighted in the household maps, to the areas of work, school, and play in a quick and timely fashion.

SIZE AND COVERAGE: The designed PRT network for Middlesex County consists of 428 stations, 145 interchanges and approximately 795 miles of track. The design of the network occurs in a manner such that each intersection services as many of its surrounding strategically located stations depending upon residential, commercial, or industrial demand. In theory, each intersection has an equal number of tracks entering and leaving it. With this network design, all of the major employers, healthcare facilities, residential regions, recreation areas and education facilities are serviced. The stations were located first and the network designed after the strategically placed stations covered all points of interest. The approximate cost, with each station costing $1m, each mile of urban track costing $3m and each mile of rural track costing $1m, would be about $1.58 to 1.68 bln. dollars, which breaks down to around $2,100 to $2,200 per resident. With an average family size of about 2.6, this cost amounts to around $5,700 per family. Considering the average American family pays over $7,000 a year in transportation fees, this amount seems incredibly reasonable knowing that about 90% of all trips can be sustained by the PRT as designed. Further, this exorbitant amount is covering the huge cost of setting up the infrastructure and will quickly decrease after the PRT system has been built and begins operations.

Above is a snapshot of a specific intersection located within the PRT network. The images give you an idea of the set-up and maneuvering capabilities of the system as well as highlighting the strategic location of the stations (schools, residential, parks) in relation to the intersections. Further, the PRT system for Middlesex uses the existing major highways as main thoroughfares in its network. Hopefully, this will utilize existing infrastructure and provides access to the many major destinations located on the main arteries.

CONCLUSION: Noting the percentage of trips to work by car, it is easy to imagine that PRT’s largest competitor would be the automobile. A main goal of the PRT is to usurp the car and create an more efficient transportation system. A huge portion of the PRT System’s usage would home-based work trips and the vast majority of the population not only takes personal automobiles into work but mostly travels alone. To be effective, the PRT system must not only be as comfortable as the car, but also as efficient. The public transportation in use today does not provide any of the conveniences of a car. With the network design of this PRT system and the excellent coverage and efficiency in travel a PRT system provides, Middlesex County’s transportation problems, both leisurely and work-related, will be more than adequately serviced. A PRT System will go a long way in alleviating the existing, and future, load on the transportation system and help continue and sustain the rapid growth of Middlesex County at an incredibly reasonably cost. Personal Rapid Transit is the future for vibrant Middlesex County.

[1] Wikipedia, “Middlesex County, NJ” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middlesex_County%2C_New_Jersey