On-demand transit for Jersey City, NJ
Service opportunity summary · November 12, 2026
Illustrative demo. Zones, funders and costs are illustrative and the Planner ran on synthetic (FAKE DATA) inputs. Real-program figures carry a source and date and are marked VERIFY until checked.
The opportunity
$7,700,000
Current citywide microtransit: annual city cost
Jersey City budget discussion as reported in local press, 2025, 2025 · VERIFY
$15.80
Current program cost per trip (city's own calculation)
Jersey City calculation, 2025, as reported, 2025 · VERIFY
14,000
Weekly rides (vendor claim) (rides/week (more than))
Operator (vendor) public statement, 2025 · VERIFY
What the Planner found
- Candidate zone 1 (around HBLR West Side Avenue): 8.0 sq mi, about 781 modeled trips a day, anchored to HBLR West Side Avenue.
- Candidate zone 2 (around Grove Street PATH): 3.1 sq mi, about 143 modeled trips a day, anchored to Grove Street PATH.
| Scenario (modeled) | Vehicles | Trips/day | Riders per vehicle-hour | Cost per trip | Annual cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Two zones, full 20-van fleet | 20 | 556 | 1.8 | $26.44 | $5,290,844 |
| Two zones, fleet right-sized to demand | 13* | 556 | 3.3 | $15.06 | $3,013,362 |
| Planner candidate zones (illustrative) | 19* | 871 | 3.4 | $14.32 | $4,491,346 |
* Fleet sized by the Planner to carry modeled peak demand at the target of 5 riders per vehicle-hour. Modeled estimates, not observed data, and not comparable with the current program's figures until the Planner runs on the city's real data.
Who pays
Planned split: Rider 20% · Foundations & community 30% · City 50%. Fare $2.00 (reduced $1.00). OpenTransit charges a flat monthly fee, never a commission on rides.
For a typical trip in “Planner candidate zones (illustrative)” ($14.32): Rider $2.00 · Foundations & community $4.62 · City $7.70.
Sources: Illustrative local foundation A; Illustrative neighborhood mobility fund B; Illustrative hospital / employer sponsor; Jersey City general fund co-pay; NJ county senior and disabled transportation fund (placeholder).
What happens next
- Run the free Planner on Jersey City's real public data (Census, commute records, transit schedules) and any trip data the city holds.
- Choose the full platform or City OS over the current operator; agree on targets for wait time, cost per trip and riders per vehicle-hour.
- Secure funding commitments for the split, with rules for what happens if a source runs out.
- Launch one right-sized zone for six months; publish open data monthly; re-plan with the actual trips.
OpenTransit Lab · open-source, nonprofit-run · the data belongs to the city · opentransitlab.org/demo · Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors; U.S. Census Bureau.