About

Bike JC is a citizen-based advocacy organization that aims to make Jersey City streets safe and welcoming for bicyclists, by promoting traffic law enforcement, bicycle lane creation, additional bicycle rack placement, education, and group rides.

We are bicyclists, commuters, parents, BMX riders, businesspeople, planners, and advocates for the full potential of Jersey City. We are committed to working with our neighborhoods, schools, and elected officials to make Jersey City the most bike-friendly city in the state. We want to help bicyclists commute, exercise, enjoy scenic rides, ferry children to activities, and head out shopping in increasing numbers in the immediate future.

With its extensive network of public transit options and parks, this dense city of approximately a quarter million people provides the perfect infrastructure to support commuter and recreational bicycling. At the same time, bicycles are also a key option for facilitating inter-modal connections. Seven miles long and approximately two miles wide, encompassing Liberty State Park and Lincoln Park, as well as many smaller city parks, Jersey City is just the right size for a bike ride.

We believe a bike-friendly city is safer for everyone. Studies have shown that the mere presence of more bicyclists (and pedestrians) encourages motorists to drive with more caution and decreases accidents. Bicycle lanes not only tend to increase the number of cyclists but can act as a traffic calming measure, helping pedestrians navigate streets safely as well. Bicycling is also economical, easy on the environment, and transforms the average commute into a great workout.

History

BikeJC came together for the first time in December 2009, but the seeds of a citizen-based bicycle advocacy group were planted ten years earlier, when the Bicycle Advocates of Jersey City staged a bike rally to attract attention to the city’s nascent bicycle plan, courtesy of Rutgers Transportation Policy Institute.

In 2004, the East Coast Greenway Alliance held its annual conference here to highlight the Jersey City portions of the Greenway, a city-to-city bicycle and walking path planned from Maine to Florida. Working with the New Jersey Committee for the East Coast Greenway, the local Embankment Preservation Coalition continues the effort to bring the off-road Greenway through Jersey City and Hudson County. Many revisions to the Jersey City Bicycle Plan later, bicycle signage and racks, were put into place in 2008.

These measures are just the beginning of a bike culture. We believe more can and should be done to make Jersey City truly bike-friendly and that resident-cyclists can help existing government, planning agencies, non-profit organizations and businesses get there.