r0sss, Flickr, Creative Commons license.
DCL
Going car-free can be lucrative, especially for those living in densely populated urban areas. You save on the car payments and fuel costs, of course, but also on insurance, parking, and maintenance. To compensate, you can walk, cycle, take various forms of public transportation and mix in some car sharing, car rentals, or taxis (still less expensive than owning a car).
But despite the health benefits and fatter wallets that going car-free usually leads to, some people are still not entirely convinced. The city of Hoboken, New Jersy, is targeting these fence-sitters and trying to push them over with a little extra package of incentives.
hoboken-map-550x.png
[small]A map of Hoboken. You can see how close it is to New York City. Credit: United States Census Bureau, Public domain.[/small]
Technically, the initiative called "Surrender Your Permit" isn't really about going "car-free". But in practice, if you don't have a parking permit in Hoboken, you can't really have a car.
"Over the past year, we have been working to tackle Hoboken's parking and transportation challenges by implementing a comprehensive set of progressive, demand-side alternative transportation solutions including the Hop shuttle system with GPS technology, the first city-wide car-sharing program in the nation, multi-space meters, expanded bicycle facilities, and pedestrian safety improvements," said Mayor Dawn Zimmer. "This program is an integral component of our efforts to provide residents easy and practical options for living car-free in Hoboken. We're letting residents know that there can be more convenient, less expensive, healthier, and more environmentally friendly alternatives to owning a car in Hoboken, and we're going to continue to work to provide residents with better options."
Benefits of the Surrender Your Permit program include:
- Corner Cars $100 driving credit (the first 40 resident to participate will receive $140) plus two years free membership from Hertz Connect: $240/$200 value
- Free Specialized commuter bike helmet (courtesy of Flo On Wheels, 1222 Washington St): $50 value
- Fleet Feet eco-friendly shopping bag, free pair of technical running socks, free timex pedometer to track distance walked/run, steps taken, calories burned & $20 coupon for a pair of shoes (courtesy of Fleet Feet Sports, 604 Washington St): $50 value
- Free 6-month Unlimited Hop shuttle pass: $180 value
- Premium membership discounts provided by Enterprise and Hertz rental car agencies
- Free bike commuter training session, riding safety lights, and reflective straps (courtesy of Hudson County TMA)
- Free Temporary parking permit placard with special endorsement stamp (allows parking on resident side) for rental vehicles
- Free SmartLink card wallet and other PATH gifts (courtesy of Port Authority of NY and NJ)
- "The Hop" community shuttle bus map and schedules
- Hoboken bike lane and bike rack locations map
This type of program is definitely a win-win-win, because it's certainly less expensive for the city to do that than to try to deal with traffic congestion, allocating more land to parkings, etc. It's better for citizens, as mentioned above, and it's better for the environment because there are fewer carbon and smog-forming emissions.
It's definitely an initiative that other urban areas should take inspiration from!
Via Hoboken
