Jersey City is growing its fleet of Via ride-share vans. This Wednesday, city officials will vote on a proposal hiking the city’s investment from roughly $3.8 million to $6.6 million, reports NJ.com. The added funding will result in the city adding 9 new vehicles to its current fleet of 17.
Since its launch in February, the Via Jersey City ride-share system has been an “unbelievable success,” says Mayor Steven Fulop. During Via’s first quarter, residents rode the Via transportation system 35,526 times. The average wait for a van was 12.9 minutes. During the second quarter (which includes the city’s COVID-19 lockdown), Via made a total of 39,487 rides. That’s an 11% increase in the number of rides. However, the average wait time also increased to 20.7 minutes, which is over the goal of a sub-15-minute wait time.
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“We saw a little slippage in wait time due to #COVID19 impact on fleet safety but all in all we are moving in the right direction,” said Fulop on Instagram.
Data shows that Ward F (Bergen-Lafayette) is where Via demand is highest. The top destination spots are the Journal Square Transportation Hub, Metro Plaza Shopping Center, and Grove Plaza.
Via rides are hailed through the Via app and rides ares just $2 per person. Commuters choose their virtual pick-up spot and drop-off location. The app then matches you with other commuters heading in that direction.
You can look through all the Via data from Q1 here and Q2 here (PDF links).
