At Jersey City’s January 5th City Council meeting, members focused on three main issues. Two of the three resolutions passed unanimously, including a temporary budget and a 2015 Cash Management Plan. The final resolution, however, remained undetermined as a few council members engaged in a debate over whether or not to authorize a proposal to create a citywide bike share program in Jersey City.

The current proposal includes at least 350 shared bikes that would be installed at NJ PATH train stations throughout the city. The Jersey City bike share docks would provide commuters from New York City with quick and easy access to a Citi Bike, just as train riders already have in Manhattan. 

Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop hopes the City Council will award a contract sometime this January to Alta Bicycle Share Inc., the operator of Citi Bike, so the proposal can move ahead. “[Doing] that is paramount, because as we grow, a lot of our growth is tied to New York City,” Mr. Fulop said. “A lot of people live here and work there, and at the same time you do have people coming across” from New York to Jersey City.

During the recent Jersey City Council meeting, two sides debated the proposed program, thus postponing the passing of a resolution. On one side, several council members lobbied their preference for a more integrated bike share program that would include all of Hudson County, as opposed to Jersey City’s current bike proposal, which is only connected with New York City. One of those council members, Michael Yun said, “Right now our bike share program is integrated with New York City. But we should involve the whole county. Why isolate ourselves? We should join together.”

On the other side of the debate, council members believed that the people of Jersey City might not be ready for an integrated bike share program at all. Councilman Richard Boggiano commented that, “Before we have a Jersey City bike share program, we should teach people not to ride bikes on the opposite side of the street.”

We are hoping to see Jersey City’s City Council make progress either way this month, and are looking forward to getting a proposal put in motion—pun intended!