Jersey City, New Jersey, is building what’s touted as the first free, public bike parking network in a U.S. city, according to bicycle parking company Oonee, its partner on the project. The parking stations and docks will also have the ability to charge e-bikes and secure other micromobility devices such as e-scooters.
Bike parking is an important element of supporting cyclist safety and encouraging residents to bike, said Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop. During his tenure, the city created its first bicycle master plan, a 168-page document published in 2019. Safety measures naturally include protected bike lanes, Fulop said, but safe, reliable bike storage is also important to help cyclists keep their two-wheeled vehicles protected from the weather, vandalism and theft.
Forty-four percent of respondents to a 2023 survey on cycling in New York state indicated that a lack of adequate bike parking at important locations was an obstacle to riding. It was the fourth-most cited cycling obstacle after too few bike lanes and safe routes, the weather and the risk of accidents with motor vehicles. According to a 2021 Transportation Alternatives report, insufficient bike parking disproportionately burdens low-income people and communities of color, which are more likely to rely on bicycles as a form of transportation.
Oonee is initially building six bike-parking stations in Jersey City, with ultimate plans for 30 stations throughout the city. Each will have about 20 reservable spaces for bikes. Residents can download an app or use a keycard to access the stations 24/7, with parking available for up to 72 hours on a first-come, first-served basis. Using the stations will be free thanks to Oonee’s advertising and sponsorship-based revenue model of placing static and digital ads on storage stations and docks. Jersey City will receive a share of the advertising revenue, meaning the program could ultimately turn a profit for the city, according to an Oonee blog post.
The effort aims to make the stations attractive neighborhood features. A public art project, alongside one of the first stations the city unveiled, exhibits images by a local photographer who focused his camera on telling “the story of life in the city’s Black & Brown neighborhoods,” the blog post says.
Though Oonee says that Jersey City is the first city to plan a citywide bike storage network, it has installed a few stations in New York City as well.
