Innovative Solutions and a Forward-Thinking Approach to Improving Parking in Hoboken

For too long, Hoboken has relied on antiquated approaches and technology when it comes to parking. This has left our residents constantly on the hunt for open parking spots in their neighborhoods, our businesses losing out on customers and our taxpayers hit with backdoor taxes in the form of aggressive, quota-based ticketing designed to fill budget gaps. We deserve a parking system that works for residents, and Mike DeFusco and his team have a plan to bring innovative solutions, a forward-thinking approach and new technology to the city to solve this problem.

It All Starts With Being Fair to Residents and Improving Communication

As Mayor, Mike DeFusco  will end the unfair 20-minute parking ticket quota and mandate that all parking enforcement revenue be placed in a dedicated fund to improve parking and transportation in Hoboken, not to fill budget gaps. He’ll also work to improve communication with residents on parking by simplifying our often confusing parking signs and using technology to allow parkers to know when they have to move their cars because of temporary no parking regulations, street cleaning or other circumstances.  

Other common sense parking improvements that Team DeFusco will make include:

• Building a parking website that has correct information for street cleaning and allows residents to report incorrect signage.
• Changing the temporary no parking sign policy to a 7-day advance posting instead of 72 hours, and requiring prompt removal of expired signs to avoid confusion.
• Immediately fixing the outdated signage and add the new hybrid meter language to the signs.
• Exploring technology that can help residents and visitors park more easily and avoid tickets, rather than just pay meters, as our current mobile app is limited to

Building More Parking and Getting More Out of Existing Garages

Team DeFusco will add additional parking to Hoboken by identifying suitable sites for construction of new garages on our city’s northern and southern boundaries, to intercept and park cars before they enter our residential neighborhoods and commercial centers. They wil make sure all new garages are future-ready and will be equipped with electric vehicle charging stations, access for self-driving cars and additional beneficial uses like commercial space. Mike also have a vision for the future of our city’s current parking inventory and he’ll reface the River Street side of City Garage B, adding new revenue-generating retail space, a public mural and a non-profit museum. This approach will help reinvigorate the surrounding neighborhood and support local small businesses, and the new revenue generated will go to the new Parking and Transportation Fund.

A Forward-Thinking Approach to Parking Management

Cities across the country are embracing new ideas when it comes to parking, and Hoboken has an opportunity to take advantage of this by instituting a dynamic parking pricing system. Dynamic pricing would allow us to open up spaces in high-demand areas like Washington Street and the waterfront on nights and weekends, allowing drivers willing to pay a premium to park at these locations and reducing the amount of time spent driving around parking in our neighborhoods.