Anish Kumar was the Lead Designer and Project Manager of the team selected by NJ TRANSIT for a major ISTEA funded station area planning study for the City of South Amboy. Originally 16 square miles, this city of 9,000 had diminished to a little over a square mile and over a third of the City’s remaining land area was abandoned and / or underutilized due to post-industrial disinvestment and the result of sprawl.

Working closely with a Working Group of key stakeholders from NJ TRANSIT, the State of New Jersey Transit Villages Program, the Country of Middlesex, the City of South Amboy, and private development interests, Anish prepared an integrated public-private development master plan for the city’s station area (defined as the area within ½ mile of the existing commuter rail station).

The plan included the following components:

• Retail, residential, and ferry service market demand analyses.
• Station area plan for a mix of land uses, infrastructure and roadway network that will both enhance and maximize the private development benefits for South Amboy from the intermodal transportation improvements.
• Concept plans for an intermodal transportation center, which will include a new commuter ferry terminal, a 1200- space commuter parking deck, an upgraded rail station with high-level platforms, a bus terminal, a new pedestrian bridge and a transit plaza on the City’s main commercial street, Broadway.
• Traffic and environmental impact analyses.

Anish’s plan assisted the City in securing TEA-21 Implementation Grants totaling $14.5 million for recommended infrastructure initiatives. The plan was also instrumental in securing a “Transit Village” designation by the Governor of New Jersey. Transit Village communities were given priority consideration for funding from NJDOT’s Local Aid Centers program, the Transportation Enhancements Program, and Bicycle and Pedestrian projects.