Op Ed: Jersey City Can’t Achieve Vision Zero Without County Help

Aaron Weiner is a community advocate, data analyst, and healthcare professional running for Hudson County Commissioner, District 4, as an Independent Democrat. He serves as Communications Chair of the Hudson County chapter of the Latino Action Network, and has spent years working alongside residents, community organizations, and local businesses across the Heights, Western Slope, and Journal Square. He is endorsed by Joel Torres, former D4 Commissioner and former Jersey City Board of Education President.

He submitted the following Op Ed piece to Hudson TV:

A county commissioner isn’t a symbolic office. It’s the office with jurisdiction over county roads- one of which is Kennedy Boulevard, the road where most of Jersey City traffic fatalities actually occurred. This office must be the partner Jersey City needs to achieve its Vision Zero goal.

In 2023, twelve people died on Jersey City roads overall. Four people died on streets that fall under Jersey City’s jurisdiction. The other eight deaths — two-thirds of the total — happened on streets the City doesn’t control: roads owned by Hudson County or the State of New Jersey.

Bringing that gap in safety to County and State partners is an action item in Jersey City’s Vision Zero plan, one that’s allegedly been achieved. The City has already done its part in bringing the problem to the county. The response has yet to come.

The job of County Commissioner comes with a responsibility to speak up and advocate for the community. It is unacceptable for our commissioner to have dragged her feet on repeated requests for a crosswalk to be painted outside PS31, just steps from where she lives, and leave residents to organize on their own to see any change.

About a month ago, I attended a memorial for a young child who was killed in a motor vehicle collision downtown, in the summer of 2025. That loss is the human cost of the gap I’ve just described. Every street in this community, city, county, and state deserves care and urgency when it comes to protecting the people who use it, especially the pedestrians and cyclists who have the least protection.

As commissioner, I am proposing a full suite of safe streets measures. Curb extensions, advanced crosswalks, and protected bike lanes are just some of what I will champion on the board. I am proposing a series of traffic town halls where residents can build a running, public list of traffic hazards, so we can fully account for the scope of the problem and tackle it in an organized way. I am also proposing further traffic studies, and I fully endorse the Hudson County Vision Zero Safety Action Plan, published in January 2025.

District 4 deserves a commissioner who shows up before residents have to organize just to be heard. I’m running because I intend to be exactly that: present, accountable, and unwilling to let another year pass while our county roads stay exactly as dangerous as they’ve always been.

Aaron Weiner
(D) Hudson County Commission Candidate, District 4

To learn more about Weiner’s campaign visit aaronweinerd4.com or donate at secure.actblue.com/donate/aaron-weiner-1