Over the past month, parking has stolen much of the Hoboken spotlight — and while maybe not so glamorous to the rest of the world, we Hobokenites know just how big this news really is. Between discounted rates for holiday shopping and the implementation of a new pilot parking program, there have been multiple proposed revisions to the Hoboken parking system in the last few weeks. Now, a new plan has been approved on first reading by the Hoboken City Council that would introduce new parking meter rates of $1.50 an hour in business districts for resident permit holders. This number is a decrease from the current $2 an hour. The time limit for street parking is also proposed to increase from two hours to four hours. Read on for what we know about the new proposed parking plan.
What We Know
Per a press release from the City of Hoboken sent out on Tuesday, December 6th, the City will be partnering with the ParkMobile app to offer residents with residential parking permits 50% discounted rates in business district metered zones. This means that, if passed, current and future permit holders will pay $1.50 an hour, as opposed to the current meter prices which are $2 an hour. The proposed meter fee will not be available to non-Hoboken permit holders, which make up approximately 90% of those parked within business districts, according to the press release.
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The proposed rate adjustment aims to achieve the national best practice, an 85% parking occupancy rate, in which ideally, there are one to two parking spaces available on each block. By lowering the rates for residents, the City hopes to encourage shifts from resident-congested parking zones to uncongested zones.
Additionally, businesses will be provided with a ParkMobile promo code to provide customers or employees with a 50% discount for a select number of transactions per month. This aligns with the discount employee parking program for Hoboken businesses, which will continue to offer off-street parking of $5 for 12 hours in select parking garages.
Residents with valid Resident On-Street Parking Permits will continue to be exempt from paying metered parking fees in permit zones.
While the plan does not offer visitors discounted rates, it does propose discounted rates of $.50 per 15 minutes for residents in permitted parking zones in residential areas. The goal here is to free up parking spots for residents and encourage visitors to use the Virtual Visitor Parking Permit system, which allows residents with a valid Hoboken Parking Utility account to purchase + activate visitor permits online.
With the proposed plan, visitor permits will remain at the same rates: $4 for 4 hours, $5 for 8 hours, and $6 for 24.
According to NJ.com, this news comes after the proposal to raise visitor parking by $1 an hour — meaning, business districts would rise from $2 to $3 per hour, and other districts would rise from $1 to $2 per hour. If passed, this proposal aims to work in conjunction with the decreased resident rates to “turn over parking spaces at a higher pace.”
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The plan was proposed to the Hoboken City Council last night, December 7th, and has been approved on first reading. In a statement to Hoboken Girl, Councilman Phil Cohen said, “It’s great that Hoboken resident Permit holders will get 50% discounts in metered parking zones in the City’s business districts. With this win-win initiative, we provide parking discounts to Hoboken residents and promote Hoboken’s incredible local businesses, which offer amazing shopping options for your perfect holiday gift, and world-class dining enjoyed by locals and visitors alike”.
Similarly, Councilman Joe Quintero told HG, “As our data shows that about 90% of those who park in business districts are non-residents, we see this price adjustment as a smart way to improve parking availability while adding a nice benefit to existing residents. I’m confident that the majority of my colleagues on the Council will join me in approving this measure on second reading so we can begin rolling this discount out to residents soon.” According to the Councilman, the final vote was 7-2 in favor of the proposed plan.
Team HG has reached out to all other Hoboken City Council members for comment but has yet to receive a response.
As always, we’ll keep you up to date as more details unfold. To stay in the know on all Hoboken happenings, be sure to follow us on Instagram and TikTok.
