Principal Investigator: Jon Carnegie

Cumberland County Area Transit System (CATS) currently provides demand-response bus service in Cumberland County, New Jersey. Service is available to the general public, including but not limited to residents aged 60 or older, Veterans, and persons with disabilities. Existing services are limited and constrained by the rural nature of County land use patterns. The purpose of this study is to explore opportunities to expand service to rural areas of Cumberland County through program changes, implementation of micro-transit, or by other means while staying within the current budget of existing funding resources. As part of this project the Voorhees Transportation Center at Rutgers (RU-VTC) will document existing conditions, assess the mobility and accessibility needs of County residents and the capacity and capabilities of CATS services, conduct listening sessions with human service agencies operating in the county, conduct a survey of county residents, investigate service options and new mobility service models, and make recommendations related to increasing the efficiency of transportation services available in the County, enhancing equity by adding service to areas that lack access, and improving the customer experience by making trip planning easier, providing better information, making services more accessible by improving path of travel, and ensuring services are reliable, convenient, and affordable within existing funding resources.