On-demand transit for Trenton, NJ
Service opportunity summary · November 12, 2026
Illustrative demo. Zones, funders and costs are illustrative and the Planner ran on synthetic (FAKE DATA) inputs. Real-program figures carry a source and date and are marked VERIFY until checked.
The opportunity
90,000
Residents of the City of Trenton (residents)
NJDOT Trenton MOVES RFEI §1, 2021-12-06 · VERIFY
8
City area (square miles)
NJDOT Trenton MOVES RFEI §1, 2021-12-06 · VERIFY
1
Households with one or no car (share of households)
NJDOT Trenton MOVES RFEI §1, §2.2, citing the 2019 American Community Survey, 2019 · VERIFY
What the Planner found
- Candidate zone 1 (around Cadwalader Park kiosk (illustrative)): 10.0 sq mi, about 2,269 modeled trips a day, anchored to Trenton Transit Center (rail and bus) kiosk (illustrative), Capital Health Regional Medical Center kiosk (illustrative), Cadwalader Park kiosk (illustrative).
- Candidate zone 2 (around Battle Monument, North Broad Street kiosk (illustrative)): 3.0 sq mi, about 131 modeled trips a day, anchored to Battle Monument, North Broad Street kiosk (illustrative).
| Scenario (modeled) | Vehicles | Trips/day | Riders per vehicle-hour | Cost per trip | Annual cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pilot phase: pilot ODD only (illustrative fleet) | 30 | 351 | 0.7 | $63.61 | $8,028,562 |
| Full-service ODD, 100 hosted AVs | 100 | 2,585 | 1.6 | $28.59 | $26,607,222 |
| Planner candidate zones (illustrative) | 64* | 2,400 | 2.7 | $17.08 | $14,753,275 |
* Fleet sized by the Planner to carry modeled peak demand at the target of 4 riders per vehicle-hour. Modeled estimates, not observed data, and not comparable with the current program's figures until the Planner runs on the city's real data.
Who pays
Planned split: Rider 15% · State of New Jersey 55% · Partners (private and university) 20% · City 10%. Fare $1.60 (reduced $0.80). OpenTransit charges a flat monthly fee, never a commission on rides.
For a typical trip in “Planner candidate zones (illustrative)” ($17.08): Rider $1.60 · State of New Jersey $10.02 · Partners (private and university) $3.64 · City $1.82.
Sources: Illustrative ride subsidy for seniors, riders with disabilities and low-income riders; Illustrative NJDOT program funding; Illustrative private operator contribution (public-private partnership); Illustrative university research partner; Illustrative City of Trenton contribution.
What happens next
- Run the free Planner on Trenton's real public data (Census, commute records, transit schedules) and any trip data the city holds.
- Choose the full platform or City OS over the current operator; agree on targets for wait time, cost per trip and riders per vehicle-hour.
- Secure funding commitments for the split, with rules for what happens if a source runs out.
- Launch one right-sized zone for six months; publish open data monthly; re-plan with the actual trips.
OpenTransit Lab · open-source, nonprofit-run · the data belongs to the city · opentransitlab.org/demo · Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors; U.S. Census Bureau.