Safe Streets & Transit Vision

Top Commitments

• Zero-Tolerance School & Park Zones: 15 MPH, safe drop-offs only (not in crosswalks or mid-street), and no commercial vehicles blocking walkways.

• Design for Safety: raised crosswalks, pushed-back stop lines, permanent curb bump-outs (with planters/benches), and clear “Children at Play / School Zone / Slow Down” signage.

• Pedestrian Priority: Turning vehicles must yield to people in the crosswalk—period. Citywide “No Right on Red.”

• Education + Enforcement: “Walk. Ride. Drive. JC Safely” public campaign, plus fair, consistent enforcement with JCPD—especially around schools and parks.

• Micro-Mobility Rules: Helmets, bells, mirrors, and reflective vests required; e-bikes/mopeds follow traffic laws; over 20 mph requires a driver’s license.

What We Will—and Won’t—Do

We will:

• Focus investments where kids and seniors walk every day—near schools, parks, libraries, and commercial main streets.

• Add protected bike lanes on calmer neighborhood connectors (not on the busiest corridors), to give families safe options without creating conflict or congestion.

• Strengthen bike parking in new housing—secure space for e-bikes and cargo bikes—so more households can choose low-car or car-free living if they want.

We won’t

• Remove street parking as a default policy or push bike lanes onto high-traffic corridors where it could compromise safety or snarl traffic.

• Close streets to create “school streets.” Instead, we’ll calm the streets and enforce the rules.

• Bring back automated speed/red-light cameras. New Jersey ended these programs over concerns about fairness, reliability, and revenue-driven enforcement. We’ll focus on design first and targeted, equitable enforcement.

Vision Zero—Done Right

“Mayor Fulop’s Vision Zero was heavy on promises but light on community accountability. We are all responsible for safety in our city. I will keep the commitment to safer streets, and deliver results that residents can actually see and feel in their neighborhoods.”

How we’ll do it differently:

• Publish progress: regular, public dashboards on crashes, near-schools enforcement, and completed safety fixes.

• Target the right streets: calm residential/school/park blocks; manage, not cram, the busiest corridors.

• Engineer before we ticket: raised crosswalks, curb bump-outs, signal timing, speed-feedback signs, and No Right on Red.

Street Design Priorities

• School & Park Areas: raised crosswalks, curb bump-outs, 15 MPH, crossing guards where needed, and high-visibility signage.

• Calmer Connectors for Protected Lanes (examples for community review): Garfield Ave, Clendenny Ave, Duncan Ave, plus Sip and Montgomery near parks/schools—linking neighborhoods to transit, libraries, and shopping while avoiding the busiest arterials.

• High-Traffic Corridors (Summit, MLK, Communipaw, Ocean): pedestrian safety first—curb bump-outs, signal timing, better lighting, and enforcement—without adding protected bike lanes on these streets.

Plazas & Public Spaces

• Newark Avenue Pedestrian Plaza: support permanence and thoughtful expansion with accessibility, family-friendly design, sanitation, and small-business coordination.

• Explore additional plaza/shared-street pilots where foot traffic is high and businesses benefit—with local input and access for deliveries and emergency vehicles.

Transit: Clean, Reliable, Local

• Launch a Jersey City Electric Bus Line to move people cleanly and dependably between neighborhoods, schools, parks, and transit hubs.

• Use signal priority, bus queue jumps, smarter stop spacing, and existing right-of-way to speed buses—without removing street parking.

• Create off-street partnerships with garages/lots for event nights or overflow, protecting curb access in neighborhoods.

Funding & Fairness

• Through-Traffic Contribution: pursue a toll/fee system for out-of-city and out-of-state drivers who use Jersey City streets, dedicating revenue to infrastructure and safety so residents aren’t stuck footing the entire bill.

• Budget Strategy:

  • Increase the Department of Infrastructure above $3M to cover crosswalks, bump-outs, drainage, signage, and bike parking.

  • Reallocate within Public Safety ($214M) to support school-zone details, crossing guards, and fair traffic enforcement.

• Oppose the NJ Turnpike Expansion in Jersey City—protect public health and environmental justice in pollution hot spots.

Housing, Parking & Affordability

• No blanket removal of street parking.

• Re-evaluate mandatory parking minimums in transit-rich areas so we aren’t forcing expensive garages that raise rents; use a context-based approach in other neighborhoods.

• Strengthen bike parking requirements in new housing—secure rooms/racks for cargo bikes and e-bikes—a low-cost way to support families who choose not to own a car.

Public Education: “Walk. Ride. Drive. JC Safely.”

Tagline: We all share the road. Let’s do it responsibly.

• Partners: schools, community organizations, local businesses, faith groups, and JCPD.

• Tactics: bold street signage and crosswalk decals; student-designed safety signs showcased citywide; community events; and a pledge campaign #WalkRideDriveJC.

• Core habits: eyes up/phones down, yield to pedestrians, 15 MPH in school zones, follow micro-mobility rules.

Community Engagement & Preparedness

• Meet people where they are: schools, churches, parks, senior centers, neighborhood associations.

• Free citywide trainings: First Aid, CPR, and trauma response through schools and community centers—pair lifesaving skills with street changes.

• Two-way feedback: block-by-block listening sessions and online portals for reporting issues and tracking fixes.

Accountability & Metrics

We’ll track and publicly report:

• Reductions in pedestrian/cyclist injuries near schools/parks.

• Number of raised crosswalks, curb bump-outs, and signage installed.

• On-time bus performance and coverage of the Electric Bus Line.

• Dollars invested from the through-traffic contribution into safety upgrades.

• Housing projects with secure bike parking delivered.

• If the share of car-free households doesn’t hold or grow with new development, we will adjust policy—and I will treat that as a failure to meet the goal.

The Bottom Line

Safer streets aren’t about ideology—they’re about protecting kids, respecting residents, and delivering practical fixesthat work. Together, we’ll Walk. Ride. Drive. JC Safely—and we’ll prove it with results your family can see on the corner where you live.