New Car Sharing Service Coming To Hoboken

For those Hobokenites who have trouble getting a ZipCar on the weekends—and those who don't even know you can—a new car sharing program will be coming to Hoboken. 

City Council approved a two-year contract to hire Hertz International to provide cars to Hoboken, during Wednesday night's public meeting. 

Director of Transportation and Parking Ian Sacs said that the program should encourage households to give up their cars, which would open up parking and reduce congestion in the Hoboken streets. 

A car share service is also cheaper than owning a car, saving households roughly $5,000 annually, Sacs said. The cars will be parked all over town, including in low-income areas, he added. 

Right now, the City of Hoboken has 25 zipcars, which are parked in the city garages, which only serves a quarter of Hoboken's residents, Sacs said.  The Hertz cars will be distributed throughout the city, "so that the full 100 percent of residents have access to these vehicles," Sacs added. 

"Zipcars are not easy to find," said Fourth Ward Councilman Michael Lenz. "They're hidden."

Councilman-at-Large David Mello supported the resolution, saying that this service also adds to the transportation options for Hobokenites. 

"It's making our community more marketable," Mello said. 

The particular parking spaces that will be used for the 40-50 Hertz cars will be discussed with the council members representing the individual wards. 

"I cannot support removing 40-50 parking places from the community," said First Ward Councilwoman Theresa Castellano. 

Sacs explained that because of the car sharing program, more people will give up their cars—or their secondary cars—which would free up parking. He said research said that roughly 17 cars are being given up for any available Zip- or Hertz car in the city.

Another topic discussed—and passed by the Council—in the realm of parking, was the installment of ten multi space parking meters in town. Sacs said that this will also create more parking (about one or two spots per street), because vehicles won't take up more space then they have to in a single metered spot (which all have the same length). 

Sacs also said that the car sharing program will bring revenue to the city, because Hertz will have to pay to park its cars in Hoboken. 

The resolution to hire Hertz passed 7-1 (Castellano voted against and Second Ward Councilwoman Beth Mason was absent). The council passed the resolution to install multi-space meters unanimously.