On November 5, 2019, Hoboken residents will have the opportunity to vote for a city council member to represent their ward. We sent a questionnaire to all the candidates requesting their policy positions on topics related to bicycling and walking in the city of Hoboken. We received responses from 12 of the 14 candidates running for city council — we thank all of the candidates who took the time to send us thoughtful responses to these questions that are top of mind for many in Hoboken.

There are a few themes that can be drawn out from the responses, a notable one being the overwhelming support for protected bike lanes. Almost all of the candidates expressed an openness or clear support for implementing protected bike lanes in Hoboken. This is no surprise as communities of all sizes across the US and around the world are aggressively implementing protected bike lanes to keep people on bicycles of all ages and abilities safe from harm, improve safety for all street users by clearly separating bicyclists from other street users, and encourage non-car transportation in the face of our public health and climate change crises. We don’t have to look far (New York, Jersey City) to see other communities implementing protected bike lanes, so the excuse that they may be “appropriate” for that other city but not Hoboken is losing validity.

Other areas in which there is broad support are: 1) narrowing (aka “road dieting”) Sinatra Drive to reduce speeds, thus improve safety, 2) adding more bicycle parking, 3) allocating more loading zones to prevent illegal and dangerous double parking, 4) designating “red curb” areas at every intersection as bicycle/scooter parking to reduce scooters left on sidewalks and encourage the idea that bicycles and scooters should ride in the street, and 5) pedestrian safety infrastructure in the form of curb extensions and raised crosswalks.

With a city council that strongly supports these improvements in Hoboken’s streets, we can dramatically improve quality of life in our city for all. We need leaders who’ll go beyond the talk and take decisive action on implementing these well-proven approaches to creating better streets and push Hoboken towards becoming a Vision Zero city.

Please take the time to read through the responses and go out and vote on November 5th to elect a city council that will work towards creating a more bicycle and pedestrian-friendly Hoboken!

First Ward

https://medium.com/@BikeHoboken/bike-hoboken-2019-hoboken-city-council-election-questionnaire-first-ward-4618746568c3

Michael DeFusco [DID NOT RESPOND]

Migdalia Pagan-Milano

Second Ward

https://medium.com/@BikeHoboken/bike-hoboken-2019-hoboken-city-council-election-questionnaire-second-ward-ceebf2ad4a83

Nora Martinez DeBenedetto

Tiffanie Fisher

Third Ward

https://medium.com/@BikeHoboken/bike-hoboken-2019-hoboken-city-council-election-questionnaire-third-ward-acb9f6e7760d

Ronald Bautista

Michael Russo

Fourth Ward

https://medium.com/@BikeHoboken/bike-hoboken-2019-hoboken-city-council-election-questionnaire-fourth-ward-b70f0cfae607

Ruben Ramos [DID NOT RESPOND]

Lisa Sprengle

Fifth Ward

https://medium.com/@BikeHoboken/bike-hoboken-2019-hoboken-city-council-election-questionnaire-fifth-ward-91a21738b0af

Phil Cohen

Tim Crowell

Nicola Maganuco

Sixth Ward

https://medium.com/@BikeHoboken/bike-hoboken-2019-hoboken-city-council-election-questionnaire-sixth-ward-9a4f9bb7cdce