City Of Newark Begins Planning For NewarkGo City Bike & Scooter Program
(NEWARK, NJ) -- The City of Newark is embarking on a planning process that will involve stakeholders and residents in creating a shared vision for NewarkGo, the city’s bike and scooter share pilot program, scheduled to launch in spring 2021. NewarkGo aims to link residents to jobs, schools, housing, health care facilities, and other essential services, and create vibrant, pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods where people can live, shop, work, and play without relying on automobiles.
The public, the media, and all stakeholders are invited to participate in virtual public meetings on Tuesday, November 24 at 6:00pm; Wednesday, December 2 at 6:00pm; and Monday, December 7 at Noon.The meetings will run approximately 90 minutes and include an overview of the proposed program, breakout sessions for small-group discussion, and an open Q&A period.
“I’m excited about launching our bike and scooter share program and figuring out planning and infrastructure support for biking in our city,” said Mayor Ras J. Baraka in his 2020 State of the City address. “Not just downtown but for access across the city.”
The NewarkGo project team is led by staff from the Department of Economic and Housing Development and Department of Engineering. The team also receives consulting assistance from Bloomberg Associates, a team of globally recognized experts and industry leaders working with cities across the globe to ignite change and transform dynamic vision into reality.
Bloomberg Associates is the philanthropic consulting arm of Michael R. Bloomberg’s charitable organization, Bloomberg Philanthropies. Founded in 2014, we work side by side with client cities to improve the quality of life for residents, taking a strategic, collaborative and results-oriented approach to make cities stronger, safer, more equitable and efficient. Our team of globally recognized experts and industry leaders has worked with cities across the globe on hundreds of projects in order to ignite change and transform dynamic vision into reality.
NewarkGo advances the following goals from Mayor Baraka’s Newark Forward Agenda:
- A Safer City:Promoting social distancing in the time of COVID-19.
- An Empowered City:Generating foot traffic for local businesses, encouraging connections to our vibrant neighborhoods, and expanding the range of opportunities for residents.
- An Equitable City:Providing a convenient and affordable transportation mode linking underserved populations to jobs, housing, and other essential services.
- A Collaborative City:Reducing road congestion, parking demand, and toxic emissions to enhance safety, promote walkability, and achieve sustainability.
The public engagement process, which includes public meetings, focus groups, and a citywide survey, focuses on the following:
- Empowering Newark residents, advocates, and businessleaders to lead conversations that willshape program policies.
- Soliciting values from Newarkcommunities tobuild support for context-specific performance measures.
- Supporting and expanding existing community-led programs toteach and support new and continuing bicyclists.
- Implementing regulations witha focus on equitable distributionof bikes and scooters once the program launches.
- Obtaining feedback about infrastructure and safety measures to anticipate potential challenges andgenerate solutions in advance.
