Last night, the City of Hoboken passed an ordinance to allow electric scooters to be used in Hoboken. With the authorization, the City will enter into a six-month pilot program with two companies, Lime and P3GM (operator of JerseyBike), that will provide electric scooters for rental by residents and visitors. Hoboken is on track to become the first City in New Jersey, and one of the first in the tri-state area to officially launch an electric scooter sharing program.
“I am thrilled Hoboken is leading the way for the rest of the state to implement an additional mode of green transportation,” said Mayor Ravi S. Bhalla. “Electric scooters will help residents easily travel around our city, reduce congestion on our roadways, and improve access to transit stations and business districts. This is another way Hoboken is leading the way in implementing environmentally responsible transportation initiatives. Thank you to Director Ryan Sharp and his team for working hard over the past year to make this launch a reality.”
The City will roll out the implementation of the electric scooter pilot program with Lime and P3GM in the coming weeks, with an official launch of the program in early next month. The pilot will allow residents to utilize the two variations of electric scooters, with Lime operating dockless Lime-S scooters, and P3GM operating Ojo scooters which will utilize the JerseyBike bike share stations for docking. The Council will vote to officially authorize P3GM via resolution at the April 17 Council meeting.
The ordinance that was passed last night on second reading authorizes electric scooters with a speed of up to 20 miles per hour to utilize bike lanes in the city. Electric scooters will not be permitted to ride on sidewalks.
Other cities that have implemented electric scooter sharing programs have received positive feedback from participants. After Portland, Oregon’s four-month electric scooter sharing pilot last summer and fall, 62% of residents viewed e-scooters positively at the end of the pilot, 71% reported they most frequently use e-scooters to get to a destination, 42% utilized scooters ahead of bikes, and 48% of visitors took an e-scooter instead of driving a car or using a ride-hailing service.
In addition to the launch next month of electric scooters, Hoboken also provides other alternative transportation options including free HOP bus service, JerseyBike bike share, and Zipcar car sharing.
