##VIDEO ID:v_v-PiWNHd0## good morning my name is Gary Sher and I have the privilege to serve as president of the city council of the city of pic uh as well as to uh serve uh the city and the rest of District 36 along with my colleague assemblyman Clinton calab assemblyman thank you for being here um so I I wear two hats but in reality there are more than two as we all seem to do here let me uh first welcome you on behalf of the city on behalf of mayor uh mayor Laura uh the mayor apologizes for not being able to be here um something late and unexpected came into his schedule the program this morning is extraordinarily important for any number of reasons but let me tell you the most important reason and that is in fact I can give you 19,000 reasons the 19,000 represents the amount of the number of seniors that we have in the city of pic we have an extraordinarily large youth population and an extraordinarily large senior population pic's population base is figured at 70% I'm sorry 70,000 so 28.9% is effectively in the senior category this program provides and will offer uh parat Transit and microtransit uh to the whole area uh which is extraordinarily important um the car ownership in pic is amongst the lowest in the state so this provides if you will for them the ability to um do their daily life chores um and become integrated more into the City and its life than they would otherwise um we're joined by a number of freeholders freeholders thank you so much for being here I know that we'll be hearing I believe from all of you my colleague I introduced assemblyman calabri and of course um the many of you who are here this morning um to not only to to celebrate this day but to open up the program if you will formly an official um I'd like to uh with with your kind permission I'd like to uh invite assemblyman Cali to say a few words um and we'll go from there assemblyman thank you very much everyone for having me today obviously I couldn't I couldn't in good conscience uh speak before my good friend uh Gary Sher who he says he wears multiple hats but uh there's one main goal for Gary and myself and that is to help as many many people as we can here in District 36 and across the state of New Jersey that's that's our job is to help people um so without further Ado uh I'm excited to announce the new microtransit system which represents a significant significant step forward in expanding Transportation options for the residents of pay County uh I want to congratulate the pay County Executive and the Commissioners for your vision and Leadership uh your commitment to improving reliable efficient and environmentally friendly Transit uh options is commend and I'm proud to join you in this um it is a particular privilege to be here as the chair of the transportation committee and also as a representative of District 36 um alongside assman chair the council president and also senator Paul stlo who could not be here today um everyone here should know that I'm a strong advocate for Innovative Transportation Solutions uh that's why we sponsored legislation to expand microtransit systems across the state of New Jersey and we're especially proud to have worked with uh Gary and Paul uh to deliver a state budget appropriation of $750,000 uh to support this microtransit system in Pay County it's wonderful um if if you didn't know micel transit systems are game changers uh they provide alternatives to traditional routes particularly in underserved communities they offer First and Last Mile connections access to Transit hubs and seamless travel for all residents but these systems are particularly beneficial to seniors and those with disabilities um and those without personal vehicles which many of us in this day and age actually don't have uh cuz they're quite expensive to have personal vehicles microtransit exemplifies government efficiency by utilizing smaller flexible vehicles that optimize routes reduce cost and adapt to community needs moreover by reducing Reliance on personal vehicles and offering a shared on demand rides microtransit helps cut traffic congestion and lower greenhouse gas emissions in general it's a win for both the residents and the environment um thank you all for the opportunity to speak today and uh I appreciate everyone being here I'd like to welcome mayor Grabowski up to say a few words now please thank you good morning welcome everyone for coming here uh for Clifton this is a this is a great opportunity and first I like to thank uh assemblyman share for including us in this we appreciate that and of course the county for you know instituting this program you know in Clifton we have um we have what's called a Senior Transport and what happens is when seniors need a ride somewhere sometimes they have to call up to two three days ahead of time to get an appointment for the doctor so when I when I read this I said this is amazing that they can almost pick up an app or however they want and almost get a ride instantly I guess and I think we spoke earlier with someone here it's almost like a an Uber coming to your door actually an actually Private Car Service which is really fantastic and we all know that Clift in horseshoes Pake so many of our residents live on the borders and the a lot of these residents that they don't have vehicles and they don't have any way to get to places so this is a fantastic opportunity for our residents to get from one place to the next quickly by simply by making a phone call they don't have to go days in advance so this is something that I'm really proud to be a part of and I really thank Commissioners and everyone else involved in this and I know it's a pilot but we hope that it works cuz I know that other cities in the town it's working well from what I understand I spoke with some people this morning um so we're going to hope that this is a great thing for Clifton and of course again I'd like to thank you for all your help for this uh assemblyman and hope it's a great program I'm looking forward to it and thank you from Clifton for including us thank you uh so once again I'd like to welcome on behalf of Mayor Laura everyone to the city of Pake my name is Ricardo Fernandez I am the business administrator as well as the executive director of Redevelopment parking authority all the hats that uh assembly maner was talking about so the mayor has been focused on multimodal forms of transportation since he came into office and I've been proud to work with him on making this happen this is a critical opponent for the city of Pake as assemblyman sherff stated we have one of the lowest car ownerships not within not only the county but the state of New Jersey so being able to get our seniors to essential Services is critical for a city such as Pake but because we don't just stop there it's going to supplement and be a great addition to all the other things that we've been doing we do have the County parat Transit that services our seniors we are proud for the first time to unveil to everyone here that we have a free shuttle service that we hope to open next month providing free service to our residents uh that have again one of the lowest car ownerships within the city as well as uh early next year we hope to open our Bike Share program so that our residents can also ride their bike to and from uh their essential Services I think the critical component here is getting our residents that don't have vehicles to essential services such as do Do's appointments just something as simple as going to a local supermarket to get their goods that they need every day that has been something that the mayor has focused on along with the city council we want to thank you once again to the assemblymen to the uh County Commissioners to our sister city of Clifton who we work so well closely together to make this happen uh we can't be prouder of what's happening within the county of Pake and we look forward to continuing this growth and we are extremely happy that the county move this initiative forward so again on behalf of mayor uh Hector Laura thank you all for being here and thank you again for including us in uh this program thank you all right good morning everyone thank you very much for being with us my name is John Bartlett I'm the director of the pay County Board of County Commissioners and we are incred incredibly excited uh about this program and I'm here to tell you a little bit about it this is pay County move and it should launch in around mid 2025 focused on paic and Clifton as a pilot project um as as the mayor mentioned Clifton I would say Embraces pic HHO is a good word but Embraces the city of pic um and and is really uh the the core of the southern part of pay County and and communities with a lot of Transit needs the lowest as you pointed out assembly one the lowest car ownership rate in the state of New Jersey is here in the city of P um but also are relatively close to Transit and in fact here in the city of pic have a wonderful downtown bus facility that's going to be coming along in just a couple of years thanks to Federal funding uh that we were able to uh Wrangle in partnership with the late Congressman Bill Pascal there are a lot of chances to connect to and through pic and Clifton um but as somebody used earlier the phrase first mile Last Mile I can say having come on the the board of the north Jersey Transportation Planning Authority njtpa about 12 years ago that when it comes to Transit that's the real Bugaboo how do you get the person who wants to who would be very happy to catch a bus or a train to Manhattan or new Yark or Jersey City to get that first mile from their house to the bus or the train or that last mile if they're coming into Clifton uh from that train to their destination to their doctor's office their workplace their school um and that's the challenge because if you if you don't have a solution to that you're just going to hop in your car so when we talk about microtransit we're not just talking about consumer convenience we're talking about congestion we're talking about the environment we're talking about cost to families of gas and wear and tear on the car and just the production in a family with one car multiple Breadwinners of figuring all that out all of that becomes easier when we can provide a system that lets people answer that first mile Last Mile Challenge in a way that works for them and for their families so uh in the modern era and you've been watching it kind of live here on the screen it's all about the app it's all about the chance to you grab your smartphone tell it where you want to go and that's within city of P city of Clifton together and a 2 m radius around wherever you may want to go whether it is all the way to the doctor's office or shopping or what have you and back or whether it's that first mile Last Mile connection you access it on your phone uh it uses smart routing it uses the uh support and subsidy of the county to make it affordable for families um and it really is going to provide a kind of access that is going to be new and exciting for consumers here here in P County and we hope this is just the beginning um until about 2 years ago my law office was in downtown Jersey City so I saw the ubiquitous bright purple or fuchsia whatever you call that color those bright via vans in Jersey City uh and people were using them they were an efficient response and we're glad to be partnering with the very same company uh that Jersey City uses for that via program of course this is pay County move it's not going to be bright pink uh I hope um but uh but it's going to be something that that folks recognize as their way to connect with transit to connect with those short trips First and Last Mile that they need on a flexible basis on an on demand basis for convenience for this from for themselves and for their families so we're incredibly excited by this we're very gratified by the way in which it dovetails with a lot of the other work pay county is doing whether you're talking about the downtown P Transit facility whether you're talking about improvements that we're making throughout our transportation Network as well as the other services that we provide the way that this connects with pay County Paratransit and the way that this can be an access point for folks who want to go out to pay County Parks the Community College other things that you can access that are here in Pay County provided by pay County and now we're giving you another way to get there so I'm happy to to talk about this I'm looking forward to answering any questions anyone that may have but I want to introduce our technology partner via uh via's mission is to expand access to sustainable Equitable and flexible transportation for Riders globally their software is in use in over 700 communities across more than 35 countries uh they are a technology provider uh for uh this process as again as you've been watching on the screen um and I'm looking forward to hearing from them the details of how that's going to work and the ways in which this is going to be a terrific opportunity for residents here at pay County we're proud to represent them and we're looking forward to working with via so I want to uh invite the Via representative up to tell us some of the nitty-gritty that uh I probably got wrong or didn't know in the first place hi good morning everyone and you didn't get it wrong at all I may not even need to be speak in what you presented so thank you very much but um and thank you very much to all the County and City officials here for for having us here today my name is Eric Gardner and I lead East Coast Partnerships at Via we're the transit technology company that will power the pic move service and on behalf of the entire via team um we're incredibly excited to to partner with pic County to bring pic move to this community uh for those of you that aren't familiar uh via provides Innovative software technology and operation Services uh to help the public sector launch flexible and efficient transportation services we have more than 750 Partnerships across the world including many here in New Jersey and we are seeing excitement from communities really across the state about using Innovative Technology Solutions for public transit uh I want to thank County leaders and really applaud their forward-thinking approach in bringing in efficient and inclusive Transit service to the county uh we're confident this service will help residents Access Health Care Jobs um other essential Services uh and we appreciate the the leadership of the state legislators including assembly members share and Cali for working to secure funding for this service and thinking bigger about the need for funding for microtransit across the state um let me take a moment to just talk to you about how the service will work for Riders once it's launched so anyone within a Zone will be able to book a lowcost share of ride um you'll do this by using the paic move mobile application that'll be available on the app store or the Google Play Store uh we're committed to making paic move work for all users so if they don't have a smartphone they can also book uh by calling a phone number and speaking to a customer service agent um and a wheelchair accessible vehicle will be available upon request uh our software algorithms will match multiple passengers headed in the same direction and direct them to a nearby virtual bus stop uh within a short walking distance creating a quick and efficient shared trip for Riders um this is a mockup of what the app will look like once we create it with you all which we're very excited to do of course with whatever colors the community wants um but let me just kind of walk you through what the experience is like for a writer uh on the screen on the left now keep in mind and not to be competitive this is a our Jersey City Service uh so this is a mockup from that the experience will be much the same for the writer but obviously white labeled to the to the move brand and again this is for riders that would be using a smartphone if they don't have a smartphone they can call in and book a ride and receive the same experience so they have downloaded the the paic move app and they have uh opened the app and the first thing they'll do is indicate within the Zone where they'd like to be picked up in this case it's a municipal complex then they'll choose the ultimate destination they can put that on the map or they can choose from a couple of shared locations could be an inter modal Hub such as Journal Square pick where and Journal Square they'd actually like to uh be dropped off and now the algorithm is looking at all the other passengers that might be going in that same general direction and grouping them and putting this Rider on the best vehicle for that shared Journey as you can see here they're given multiple options including if it's pertinent connections to and showing fixed route public transit options as well very important once the rider confirms that they'd like to take that ride the algorithm then puts them on the best vehicle for that journey and gives them information about when they're going to be picked up uh who will be picking them up and gives them visibility into where that vehicle is this is the experience for the rider and we're extremely happy to to bring this to this community um thank you again and I'm happy to answer any questions you have afterwards well the agenda says I go last so actually why don't you come on back up here we'll let folks uh ask any questions that they have either of us from the government side or the the Via Tech piece and thank you all very much for making the time to come out and be part of this I think it's an exciting partnership I think it's another example of how really all the levels of government working together can do extraordinary things obviously we can't do any of this without our state Partners um the connectivity that this gives people access to as I mentioned is very often federally funded through njtpa uh and obviously our local partners are how we figure out where to go and where the need is uh and I think we do extraordinary stuff together particularly here in the cities of pic and Clifton so if I can just add uh director um this is an exciting project for any number of reasons one of the most interesting to me is the uh integration of services between all of the partners the county Clifton pic um came together with this program it represents 12 steps forward for each of our communities and really shows that government directed in the right way can be an extraordinarily effective assistance and model for all of us um I will tell you the support that we received from the professional staff of the county um I see uh Matt Jordan with us today as well as a number of his people who work with him so closely and certainly in terms of pic in as well government can work together can work together extraordinarily I will tell you the leadership of assemblyman calibri uh in terms of helping to secure funds uh was tremendous assistance to us and from a city perspective as well as a state P perspective thank you so very very much for the efforts that youve made John forgive me for in no I that was all exceptional thank you very much when er was about sit down and you brought it back up I was gonna ask him this one simple question and it's um I I know via I've actually used the app before um why create a a second and tertiary app specific to either Jersey City or pic why not just utilize the via app yeah I mean it's it's a great question so when we first actually started out as a company we were direct a consumer service only based in New York City and Jersey City was actually one of the first to use uh us for a municipal service where we partnered with a public entity at that point we were just using the via app but we found through launching hundreds of microtransit services that having that wh labeled uh Community uh Transit brand is something that can really build loyal Riders uh and and really pride in the community uh from the driver and Rider perspective yes I think you mentioned because I know I get this question asked you mentioned there's a fee or a slight fee how is that adjusted is it built into the app you know sort of uber they take it out of your credit card or does it go by your means or is it a set fee how how how does someone pay for this yes absolutely so I think that the fair is still to be determined for this particular service uh but the there's Integrations within the app so if you have a credit card you prefer the pay that way you can um there are many who are writing that may not have a smartphone they may be cash based writers so we also offer uh cash or debit equivalence for that with you know prepaid cards um ultimately they can also pay for cash with cash on board as well great yeah will the app be uh excuse me would you mind introducing yourself that's a very that's a very good point to county commissioner Orlando Cruz um I just have a qu I mean the large majority of our community uh is uh Latino speaking so is the app accessible to those individuals will be translated in Spanish your customer service Hub there Spanish speaking people there as well absolutely so it needs to be accessible linguistically as well meaning the writers where they are so we have uh we have writer apps in multiple languages uh among them Spanish we even have a creole one in in Miami so it will be accessible um to all writers including the call center support in terms of if they call in book a ride and need to speak a different language thank you yeah and for folks who are you know going to focus on that or write about it in your in your coverage pay county is 40% Latino uh one in three pay County residents is an immigrant and I'm sure here in P the numbers are higher 75% Latino here in the city of Pake and uh mayor do you know for the city I think we're somewhere up around 40% there you go so definitely a big part of the customer base what kind of vehicles are these are they going to be jitty buses electric yeah great question so we will be launching with uh minivans uh they'll be uh wrapped in the pathic move brand um that's usually what we use uh where we we offer whatever vehicle our partners would want us to use and in this case I think the minivan's a great fit for this service right how many like how big's a fleet typically um I think this one will be around 10 Vehicles okay that's um you say virtual bus stop like like how like how close is that normally like I order it I'm living you know I'm living you off of you know my tertiary Street by walking out to like a main street or they come in front of the house yeah so prior to launch we'll work um with both cities and the county on a set of points that are appropriate and safe for Riders to walk to and these will be points that will be a couple hundred feet away from where their original pickup or drop off request would be and it really helps enhance the efficiency of that routing for all Riders involved yeah but as I mentioned in my Mar we're looking to make sure that this is something that you'll choose over hopping in your own car if you're somebody who has one so we're looking to maximize that uh proximity to the homes without of course sacrificing safety or efficiency and you mentioned a two M radius is that a two M radius from where you get picked up or is that two M raise from the city LS so um if you if you draw a two mile um ring around the city limits of Clifton and pay combined that's the service area so yeah uh Sou South patteron Nutley uh Garfield uh upper Monclair um uh yeah we got the right idea yeah so I I got a question so we had some conversation about the demographics in both of our municipalities what about opportunities for our residents to be employed as drivers for the via app how would we go about getting our residents to take part of it cuz who knows our city better than our residents and if we're driving around it probably make it a little bit more efficient absolutely and a lot of the time the bonds between uh drivers and Riders will form during the the the course of a service um in Cen actually where we have a service around 80% of the of the drivers are from the city itself which something we hope to to replicate here so prior to the launch we'll we'll work with uh both cities and the county on um on publicizing uh the role to be a driver and and working through Community organizations to get that opportunity out you know I'm glad you mentioned uh Canden can you elaborate on what other uh cities or counties that you operate in currently New Jersey and tell us a little bit of your success in those areas yeah absolutely so we've seen um these types of services pop up all over the Garden State which we're really excited about although I will say to your earlier point this is the first one in the city and I think nationally that we've seen where two cities ahead of time have collaborated to form a service uh in in collaboration with the county we've seen cities join existing services but never to come together so I think that Municipal cooperation is is really noteworthy and we're excited to it's really a national model um to answer your question we have uh turny microtransit Services uh in Camden with the community uh cam Community Partnership uh with the city of Jersey City uh we also have a uh help power Service uh in the city of New Brunswick in a partnership with Bic County um in addition to that we work with New Jersey Transit access um for pair Transit rides in region two is it region two region five sorry about that and we also work on pair Transit software with Cumberland County got a budget what's that but AMT or Matt do we have 1.5 million 1.5 million in the first year and this is a pilot project we're going to look at response and uh you know the sky the limit in terms of future growth if folks uh come out and make use of itest you say that I'm not going to say that I'm not going to say that from up here uh but no we've we've got a lot a lot of communities here in Pay County where you can see the potential for this in the same way that we've got uh Clifton Pake uh partnering you could imagine Little Falls and Wen park or uh other uh other groups of municipalities where folks have that need and where just that footprint of the towns and the penumbra around them uh gives you access to all kinds of things all right thank you everybody thank you