This is going to be Hoboken’s pivotal year for bicycling.  We are poised to become a true bicycling city, with appopriate facilities, training and law enforcement, as well as a greater acceptance of the concept and “culture” of bicycling as urban transportation for all ages, rather recreation for merely the brave.  But first, a recap: last year was a great start with all the progress we made:

• Exclusive, Class II bike lanes were installed along Madison and Grand Streets
• Bicycling volumes increased noticably over the year
• The new Mayor Dawn Zimmer created a Department of Transportation and Parking that includes a heavy focus on resident pedestrian and bicycling needs
• Community members collaborated with city officials to craft a major pedestrian, bicycling, and traffic calming master plan proposal to NJDOT for a grant and it was approved
• The kick-off meeting of the above NJDOT grant program was held in December
• Meetings with NJTransit were held to discuss ways to increase bike parking at the Hoboken Terminal
• Class III “Sharrows” have been installed on several east-west cross streets, with more to come
• A preliminary bicycle parking plan was drafted with significant community input to identify locations where future bicke racks should be installed throughout the city so that bicyclists have a place to lock up
• Preliminary speed studies and comparisons along streets with/without bike lanes show significant speed reductions on streets with bike lanes, with most cars keeping below the speed limit on these streets
• Bicycle safety techniques and responsibilities became a major focus towards the end of the year as more residents complained about the city being “invaded by hordes” of bicyclists, even submitting letters to local newspapers
• Dicusssions with various restaurants with delivery services were started to encourage more bicycle deliveries versus cars