About one year after they launched their service in Jersey City last year, Via will now be offering Saturday service.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
In the past year, Via has provided over 216,000 rides, most of which originated from the West and South areas of Jersey City, with top destinations being key transportation hubs and shopping/business districts.
Despite the pandemic, the service is exceeding every goal and has been more resilient than traditional public transit in Jersey City, proving to be a critical transportation offering, especially for the underserved communities who need it most.
“Via is meeting and exceeding our goals of expanding connectivity with affordable transportation, providing residents with more opportunities, and improving quality of life, especially for our low-income and diverse populations in areas where reliable mass transit is otherwise scarce,” Mayor Steven Fulop said in a statement.
“Despite the pandemic, the on-demand service continues to break ridership records, we’ve added to our Via fleet to meet the growing demand, and the new Saturday service is being added per the community’s request to fill the voids left by other limited transit services.”
Via Jersey City has provided more than 1,600 rides per day, with continued growth week over week. In fact, 70% of these rides are shared between multiple riders, and 62% of riders use the service most often to commute to work.
A diverse population across age, gender, and socioeconomic background have increasingly come to rely on Via Jersey City, which was defined as an original goal of the service.
Additionally, more than 50 percent of Via Jersey City riders make less than $50,000, and the highest percentage identify as Black or African American, officials said today.
Furthermore, a 78% increase in ridership since the start of the pandemic also indicates that their service has been resilient.
