Erin Lanahan 
A three-month trial of a program designed to mitigate congestion on Washington Street in Hoboken concluded on December 31st, after facing criticism and a City Council vote to freeze it. The Camera-Based License Plate Enforcement for Access and Response Times Program, or CLEAR, used remote-viewing cameras to issue citations for vehicles. Now that the trial period has concluded, its long-term future in Hoboken is undetermined. Read on for a closer look at the CLEAR Program and where it’s headed next, according to Hoboken City officials.
The CLEAR Program
The CLEAR program, or the Camera-Based License Plate Enforcement for Access + Response Times program, launched as a pilot program on October 1st, 2025. The program is part of Hoboken’s Vision Zero initiative to reduce traffic-related deaths and injuries. The CLEAR program was designed to improve safety, reduce illegal parking, and ease traffic congestion along Washington Street. That means illegal double parking in bike lanes, stopping in bus zones, and prolonged use of loading zones.
The system relies on cameras to capture images of vehicles parked illegally on Washington Street between Observer Highway and Eighth Street. Those cameras were authorized by the Hoboken City Council in 2024. The images are then reviewed by staff from the Hoboken Parking Utility, who then determine if a ticket is warranted. If so, a citation is issued by mail to the registered vehicle owner. There was an initial cap on the number of tickets an owner could receive, which lasted from October 1st to October 31st, 2025.
Read more: Your Guide to Electric Vehicles in Hoboken + Jersey City
After the first week, the program was touted as a success by the City, pointing to reduced parking violations and deterring unsafe behavior such as double-parking and parking in bus stops. “Whether you’re a parent walking your child to school, a senior getting on the bus, or a firefighter racing to an emergency, keeping our streets clear makes a difference,” said Mayor Bhalla. “If we keep our streets clear, we keep our community safe. Plain and simple. CLEAR is helping us get there one day and one lane, at a time.”
Red Light: City Council Vote
The CLEAR Program operated as a three-month pilot from fall 2025 through December 31, 2025. During a City Council meeting on December 3, 2025, the Hoboken City Council members voted 5-4 on a second reading to freeze this program until January 15, 2026.
The vote came after complaints from some local business owners who said business dropped significantly since CLEAR began because people aren’t parking along busy streets like Washington Street, according to 2nd Ward Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher. “This is the busiest time of year for them, and their seasonal sales are down,” Councilwoman Fisher said during the meeting. “People are just not coming.”
However, some members of the council say the program has been beneficial, and don’t want to see it paused. “It’s always been illegal to double park. We just now have an effective enforcement mechanism that allows us to enforce city ordinances,” Bike Hoboken Executive Director Andre Wilson said.
Green Light: Mayor Overturns Vote
On December 12th, Mayor Bhalla vetoed the ordinance passed by City Council to temporarily freeze the program. In his veto statement shared with Hudson County View, the Mayor stated that the program’s three-month data collection period has not yet ended and that ending the program would be, “Inconsistent with the City’s goals of increasing compliance with current laws and advancing the public safety objectives of the program.”
In the statement, Mayor Bhalla further cited support for the CLEAR program from NJ Transit, Hudson County Complete Streets, Bike Hoboken, and Bike JC. The Mayor urged City Council to continue the program through that date, after which data from the program would be evaluated for future planning.
What’s Next In 2026?
The CLEAR pilot Program ended on December 31st, 2025, but there is still a chance it could come back. For now, cameras are no longer taking images to deal out tickets. However, parking enforcement will continue through the Hoboken Parking Utility and Hoboken Police Department officers.
See more: How this Shed in Bradley Beach Helps Limit Community Waste
“The City’s Department of Transportation & Parking is in the process of compiling data from the three-month pilot period and will need to analyze this data and review the stakeholder feedback collected to date before any next steps can be determined,” said Marilyn Baer, Communications Manager for the City of Hoboken. The proper funding and approval from City Council and the Mayor would be needed. No timeline on when the CLEAR Program might return was given.
Hoboken City Council’s Response
The Hoboken Girl reached out to Hoboken City Council members and incoming Mayor Emily Jabbour about the CLEAR Program and included their statements about the state of the CLEAR program below. HG will update this piece as we get more comments.
Councilwoman Diane Imus
“In terms of the CLEAR program, I was not a fan of how it was rolled out to the public with little public input, especially from the affected businesses on Washington Street. However, I do appreciate that there is less double parking, which is a benefit for bikers and drivers alike for safety and congestion.
The current state isn’t necessarily how the program should be finalized, because people are still double-parking, blocking bike lanes, and given the number of charging stations and streeteries, there are simply not enough loading zones. The hardware store, UPS store and Hoboken Pet store are three businesses that come to mind that are suffering, because they require customers to load and unload (sometimes heavy boxes!), and there are limited spots on those blocks to accommodate short term parking. We’re in a catch-22 – we would like to see less e-bikes on Washington, but we’ve made it impossible for people to quickly pick up food orders.
Moving forward, I would like to see enforced, payable short term loading spots to encourage turnover in Washington. And this may require us to work towards improvements to the system to increase the number of loading spots by shortening the bus lanes, and perhaps moving the charging stations to side streets, but allowing the companies to keep their advertising panels in place.”
Councilman Ruben Ramos
“I am not supportive of the CLEAR program in its current form because we heard consistent and credible feedback from residents and business owners that this enforcement approach has had real economic impacts on street level commerce. Many small businesses told us sales have declined and that customers are hesitant to come downtown because of the uncertainty around short term parking and automated citations. That kind of feedback is important to take seriously.
For that reason, the City Council passed an ordinance to temporarily pause the CLEAR program so that we could step back, review the data, and engage more fully with the community and stakeholders. We wanted a pause not to stop enforcement altogether but to create space for a comprehensive evaluation of whether the program is meeting its intended safety goals without unintended harm to local businesses and daily life.
Unfortunately, that ordinance was vetoed by the mayor. Even though a majority of the Council voted to put the pause in place, the mayor vetoed it, and our attempt to override the veto was unsuccessful. That veto means the program continues without the additional review and adjustments we felt were necessary at this stage. The Council remains committed to working with the administration, with residents, and with business owners to find a balanced approach that improves safety and mobility without creating undue burdens for commerce or community life.
The way we approach enforcement and public safety should be data driven and responsive. We need to look at all of the evidence, including economic impacts, resident experience, and patterns of compliance, and we should do that before expanding or institutionalizing any program. That is why I support a more comprehensive approach rather than a one size fits all rollout.”
Follow @thehobokengirl on Instagram + TikTok for the latest Hoboken and Jersey City updates, sign up for our weekly newsletter here that shares everything you missed.
