Tag: Target Zero

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NEWS! The 14th Annual NJ Bike Walk Summit! March 29th. And NOTIFICATION: Your invitation to attend the first Target Zero Commission meeting, or submit comment,

The 2025 NJ Bike And Walk Summit will be an exciting event!

Saturday, March 29, 2025 at Princeton University.


Hope you’ll join us as we continue to learn and to advocate for equitable, safe mobility for all road users, especially the most vulnerable.

Register here:  https://njbwc.org/summit-2025/ 

Keynote speakers include:
✅Fran K. O’Connor, NJ Department of Transportation

✅Charles L. Marohn Jr., founder and president of Strong Towns, and named one of the 10 Most Influential Urbanists of all time.

Hope to see you there!

 

Notification: Your invitation
The public is invited to the first meeting of NJ’s first-in-the-nation Target Zero Commission is tomorrow morning at 10am
 
If you can’t make it in person, you can also leave a written comment by March 21st.
See details:
What: Target Zero Commission First Meeting
When: Thursday, March 6th, 2025 at 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Where: NJ Transit Headquarters, Two Gateway, 283-299 Market Street, Newark, NJ 07102
*Note* Meeting attendees are required to obtain a guest pass from the 2 Gateway Security Desk, go through police security screenings, and then sign in for the meeting with staff at the reception table outside the Board Room. Please allow extra time.
Agenda:
  • Introduction of Commission Members
  • Safe System Approach Presentation
  • Public Comment
  • Next Steps
A member of the Governor’s Office will also be in the audience on Thursday; if you wish to attend and/or send a comment, please help us by completing this form so that we may know to expect you.The purpose of the public comment period is for the Commission to receive valuable information from the public on agenda matters, not answer questions.
  • Speakers must register to speak outside the Board Room when they arrive for the meeting.
  • Each individual speaker will have three (3) minutes to provide comments.
  • If representing an organization, one speaker will have five (5) minutes to provide comments for the organization.
  • Each speaker should tell the Commission their name, and if applicable, the organization they represent, before providing their comments.
Please note that written comments are also encouraged and will be accepted by the Commission. The Commission will give equal consideration to written comments as it does to those comments provided at the meeting.
Written comments may be submitted to targetzerocommission@dot.nj.gov by or before March 21, 2025. To read more about the agenda and public comment procedures for this meeting, please visit https://www.nj.gov/transportation/about/index_vision_zero.sh
Thank you for your continued support.
Onward!

Polli Schildge, Editor

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APCSC Testified today for NJ Target Zero Commission with Teeth. And Protect access to e-bikes.

Hello supporters~

I was honored on Thursday, 2/15 to be among other equitable mobility advocates giving powerful testimony in favor of a strong Target Zero Commission.

We all urged the very receptive Senate Transportation Committee to establish the Target Zero Commission to include a commitment for an action plan and timeline in Bill S361 sponsored by @patrickdiegnan   

Contact Senator Patrick J. Diegnan Jr

Listen to the recording of the meeting, including testimony for Target Zero Bill 361 at 49:00. Prior is great testimony on other transit issues, including the (really bad) E-Bike Bill: S4132.

Senate Transportation Meeting Thursday, February 15, 2024

This Commission will provide leadership and encourage municipalities like Asbury Park to craft policies and implement safety measures to make streets safer for everyone. (Scroll down to read my testimony.)

Equitable Mobility Advocates with NJ Senator Patrick Diegnan.

Additionally others among us testified against the really bad E-bike/e-scooter Bill S4132 requiring licensing and registering low-speed e-bikes and scooters.

Why Every E-Biker Should Be Worried About NJ’s Proposed Micromobility Insurance Law Additional testimony was given on the terrible e-bike and scooter insuring, licensing, and registering bill.

Take Action to Protect Access to E-Bikes in New Jersey

Low speed e-bikes and scooters should not require insurance, licensing, and registration.

Here’s my testimony today, February 15th for the NJ Target Zero Commission, and Bill S361:

Polli testifying on behalf of APCSC

I’m Polli Schildge, a founding member of Asbury Park Complete Streets Coalition.

*APCSC initiated a city wide movement to urge the city to implement the road diet on NJ Rt 71 Main St. It’s better, but still not great. There is still so much more to do.*

We’re happy to support the NJ Target Zero Commission, and Bill S361, including a commitment to an action plan with a specific timeline for implementation of road safety measures.

In the past few years our city has experienced a Renaissance, which has resulted in increased traffic, speeding, and drivers ignoring traffic signals and signs.

At the same time nearly half of residents are at, or under the poverty line, which is almost twice the national average. Many residents don’t own cars, and rely on walking or rolling as their primary transportation.

Road safety really is an issue of equity. *Everyone walking or rolling or driving has to cross NJ State Highway, Rt 71, our Main Street which bisects the city, to travel east and west. Driver behavior is terrible, and speeding is rampant.*

When I came upon the site of a recent crash and fatality of a person on a bike, all that remained was debris, and the squashed bike tossed to the side of the road. There was no news report on the crash or the person whose life was lost.

*I walk and bike by choice, not necessity. But many people walk and bike because they have no choice. – mothers with children, and elderly struggling to cross Rt71. I recently witnessed 2 people on bikes in the crosswalk, in a left turn hit and run, and learned of another person hit on a bike in critical condition.*

The social, economic, physical and mental repercussions of crashes is a true human health crisis, disproportionately affecting communities like Asbury Park. When anyone is killed or seriously injured in a crash, families under financial stress might be displaced, causing a ripple effect, and straining resources in the city itself.

*We don’t have accurate crash data – crashes are unreported because people may be undocumented or have criminal records.*

PSAs, signs, education, and enforcement don’t change human behavior. The ONLY way to reduce and ultimately prevent crashes, injuries and deaths is to change the built environment.

Everyone deserves to get around safely, especially the most vulnerable road users – I used to think it meant elderly, or children – but it really means everyone outside of a car.

Driving is a privilege, not a right. We all deserve the right to equitable mobility, which can be achieved by implementing policies, and building infrastructure to enhance the health of our communities, and most importantly, to save lives.

This Commission will provide leadership and encourage municipalities like Asbury Park to craft policies and implement safety measures to make streets safer for everyone.

Thank you.

Onward~

Polli Schildge

Editor APCSC