No New Hop Buses for Hoboken

The city of Hoboken will not see new Hop buses any time soon, after a bond ordinance failed on Wednesday night during the council meeting. 

A bond ordinance for a total of almost $500,000 to pay for five new buses as well as a bucket truck needed six votes to pass. Five councilmembers—the majority—voted yes, but the four minority council members didn't approve the bond. 

The new buses cost $80,000 each and the bucket truck is $95,000. 

"We are increasing our credit card payments," said Third Ward Councilman Michael Russo, who has said he will not approve any more bonds. "We’re putting more debt on the city." Russo said he thinks the city should pay for the buses with cash, out of the budget. 

Director of Parking and Transportation Ian Sacs said he was "very disappointed" with the night's events. "Thousands of residents were told 'no' by four council members," Sacs said. 

Earlier in the evening, Sacs tried to convince the council members to pass the bond. "The Parking Utility will be able to cover the debt service associated with this," Sacs told them.   

Councilwoman Beth Mason also objected passing the bond. During the meeting Sacs told Mason that he would be able to start off with buying only three buses, rather than five, as a cost saving measure. 

Sacs said that he gets about 15 complaints a week about the Hop buses. Residents complain about faulty buses as well as the fact that buses are often out of order because they're being repaired. 

Recently, Sacs said, a Hop driver resigned because of the conditions of the bus.

The Hop buses were started about three years ago. Since its inception, Sacs said, about 120,000 people have ridden either the green, red or blue Hop. The blue Hop is used most with 65,000 people using it, the red hop has seen 31,000 riders and the green hop has 23,000. 

It's unclear how the Parking Utility will pay for the buses, and when. Sacs said he will have to reevaluate the budgeting to determine if the city can buy the new vehicles.

"We will do as we always have," Sacs said. "Work with what we got."