<p> With the brilliant help of graduates from Hoboken's <a href="http://www.stevens.edu/">Stevens Institute of Technology</a>, our local community shuttle bus (a.k.a. The Hop, formerly known as The Downtown Crosstown Shuttle) can now be viewed <a href="http://www.hobokennj.org/departments/transportation-parking/the-hop/">live on the city's website</a> as it cruises along narrow Hoboken city streets from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM (EST), Monday through Friday. If you're not near the internet, try texting “crosstown” to 41411 to get a return text with the location of the bus' whereabouts whenever it's running, then run down to the corner before you miss it! </p>
With the brilliant help of graduates from Hoboken's Stevens Institute of Technology, our local community shuttle bus (a.k.a. The Hop, formerly known as The Downtown Crosstown Shuttle) can now be viewed live on the city's website as it cruises along narrow Hoboken city streets from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM (EST), Monday through Friday. If you're not near the internet, try texting "crosstown" to 41411 to get a return text with the location of the bus' whereabouts whenever it's running, then run down to the corner before you miss it!
Text "crosstown" to 41411 to find me! (Photo Courtesy of Jerry Lore/h-mag)
This infusion of technology makes our humble bus attractive to smart phone-tethered younger residents impatient (or illiterate) with static bus schedules, and allows us to confirm that the time-honored timetable is nonetheless accurate for older generations who have come to depend on the bus to get around locally. The project pieces, assembled and implemented as a volunteer effort by computer-omniscient start-up group gurus at www.parkingmapper.com, totaled less than $500 in materials and about eight weeks of catch-as-catch-can time; they might pimp your ride too if you ask nice!
The technology rivals other surprisingly expensive systems and speaks to the heart of what partnerships between local universities and municipalities are all about. Open sources such as Linux and OpenStreetMap.org were leveraged to provide needed code guts at no additional cost. Residents graduate in days from perceiving this as a fun toy to using it as a de rigueuer tool for making the best use of their time (just as how one finally stops staring at the Roomba vacuum cleaner after a few hours and gets on with life sans sweeping). Minimalists can debate whether a paper schedule in pocket (or in head) is less inconvenient than a text message from the ether; in terms of exploring ways to use ubiquitous technologies to simplify life, this is a success! As Edie Brickell says, "...religion, is the smile on a dog."
Hoboken Challenges Residents to "Surrender" Their Permits (Read: Cars)
Over the past year, we've been guiding the City of Hoboken, NJ towards providing sufficient alternative modes of transportation such that owning a car for a large number of residents becomes more than unattractive, it's simply not necessary. The goal is not to tell residents that they can't own a car, but to make life without a car so easy that every single family in Hoboken can freely choose whether owning a car is what they want to spend their money on. For those who decide that a daily commute by car is most practical, my job is to make it possible to find a parking space and travel in and out of town without too much friction. However, for the overwhelming majority of Hobokenites who commute daily on foot, bicycle, or via transit, life without a car should be as
Intermodal Instant Gratification
The beauty of street paint is that it costs next to nothing and it can have a huge effect in a very short period of time. Anyone watching how New York City Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan transforms public streets into public spaces with paint, planters, seating, and signs knows how the installation of these materials overnight works like magic.
No Traffic Deaths for Three Years: The Story of Hoboken's Vision Zero Success
Hoboken has spent the past several years investing in new bike infrastructure, and traffic collisions of all kinds have since decreased.
What We Really Mean When We Say Gentrification
The focus on gentrifying communities has, in many cases, eclipsed the similar problems facing more stagnant neighborhoods.
Study: Market-Rate Development Filters Into Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing
New research sheds new light on one of the most hotly debated questions in planning and development.
The End of Single-Family Zoning in California
Despite a few high-profile failures, the California State Legislature has approved a steady drumbeat of pro-development reforms that loosen zoning restrictions. The state raised the stakes on its zoning reforms this week.
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