Dear Readers,
Hoboken's Corner Cars program has been one of the most progressive transportation options offered to residents of this City, directly by this City, in the thirteen plus years that I've had the privilege of living here. I was honored, along with Sixth Ward Councilman Giacchi, to sponsor the ordinance that created the program.
In the less than six months that the program has existed, close to one thousand Hoboken residents have signed up for Corner Cars, and forty five remaining residents, and counting, have given up their residential parking permits. The program has been nothing short of a slam dunk.
By signing up for this program, and certainly by giving up their resident stickers, substantial numbers of Hoboken residents have made a significant and major commitment to Corner Cars. It's time that Hoboken's City Council match this commitment. It's time that our Council pass an ordinance that will bring certainty to this program for the entire year and a half that is left on the contract between the City of Hoboken and Hertz. It's time that Hoboken's government bring some degree of certainty to the lives of the many residents who have embraced our Corner Cars program; avoiding unnecessary governmental vacillation every ninety days, and further avoiding shaky legal ground for the creation of these spots to stand upon, in the first place.
Our residents have committed to this program in droves. Isn't it high time that our Council match their level of commitment?
This program has, in the short-term, cost our City an investment of a mere forty two street parking spaces. It has already yielded returns of close to one thousand resident members and forty five residents relinquishing their residential parking permits. A few short months into this program, we've already created a net gain of three spots during peak times. And, this doesn't even factor in the immeasurable number of new residents who have opted not to bring a car into Hoboken because the Corner Car program exits, in our historically transient community.
Please join me in advocating for the passing of the ordinance tonight, on first reading, which will finally, and unequivocally, support and commit to our progressive Corner Cars program. The meeting begins at 7:00 pm in City Council Chambers (the City Courtroom) of City Hall.
Hope to see you then.
Sincerely,
David Mello
City Councilman At-Large
The City of Hoboken ◦
