Focus on Streets Highways & Bridges: Hoboken

Hoboken pushes EV infrastructure forward

By LAUREN CAGGIANO | The Municipal

Hoboken, N.J., may be small, but its efforts to address climate change are not modest by any means. For instance, in the last few years, the city has focused on accommodating and facilitating the transition to electric vehicles for residents and visitors alike.

Deputy Director of Transportation and Parking Diana Aviles said the city is a regional leader in climate change initiatives. (Photo provided by the city of Hoboken, N.J.) ABOVE: The addition of the new Volta charging stalls will more than double the number of public EV charging ports available in Hoboken. (Photo provided by the city of Hoboken, N.J.)

These efforts are part of a larger plan and commitment to lowering its carbon footprint. In April 2019, the city adopted a climate action plan to achieve greenhouse gas reductions. Then in 2021, the municipality unveiled its first phase of city-owned, publicly accessible level 2 electric vehicle charging stations at Garage B, Garage D and on First Street between Washington Street and Court Street. In July 2022, the city expanded the number of level 2 electric vehicle charging stations at Garages B and D and added electric vehicle charging stations to the Midtown Garage and the municipal parking lot at 1301 Jefferson St.

Deputy Director of Transportation and Parking Diana Aviles said the phrased approach has allowed the city to test the waters and find incremental success. In general, investing in the future of more sustainable transportation was also essential.

“I can tell you that on-street charging is still very new,” she said. “We’re probably going to be the first probably in this entire region to go with 25 stations and the first to try EV charging in private garages. We didn’t model (the effort) after someone else. We just wanted to meet our own demands and the needs of Hoboken.”

With the initial success under its belt, Aviles said it’s time for her department to look to what’s next in terms of expanding its offerings.

“Now, with our most recent partnership with Volta, the goal is to provide charging stations to all Hoboken residents within a 5-mile walking distance,” she said. “So, we wanted to make sure that they were accessible all over the city. That’s what’s going to be the focus of our next phase of the launch. There will be 25 EV charging stations, including eight DC fast chargers.”

Members of the Green Pass program are eligible for a discounted parking rate of $6 for up to eight hours while charging at Garage B, Garage D and Midtown Garage. (Photo provided by the city of Hoboken, N.J.)

But having charging stations is only one piece of the puzzle. The Green Pass program, launched in July 2022, is free to residents. It provides a 50% discount to on-street permit holders to park their electric vehicles, or plug-in electric vehicles, at a reduced rate in one of the municipal garages.

“We wanted to make sure that since we knew that the number of EVs was growing in Hoboken and more residents were transitioning from a gas vehicle to an electric vehicle they had a place to park,” she said.

Before this incentive, some residents had to find creative ways to park. Driveways and garages are limited in Hoboken, for example. Also, Aviles said it was important that the city provide them with a safe location for charging. The 50% discount means that permit holders would pay $6 for up to eight hours to charge in a garage. Per Aviles, they would also have to pay for the electric part. However, that compares to $28 for the same period for non-permit holders.

And the program resonates with users.

“Since we launched that program, we’ve gotten great feedback from residents, specifically the ones who were using it,” she said. “They wanted to see more of it — not so much in a garage, but they wanted to see EV charging stations on the streets. So that’s how we knew that we were headed in the right direction with the next phase.”

Also, Aviles’ observations indicate the program meets the community’s needs. In her words, “Every single time I happen to walk by one of our municipal garages, all of the EV stations are taken.”

The statistics speak volumes, too.

“Since providing the first EV charging stations in 2021, we know through our data analytics that more than 3,300 people have charged their EVs over 4,300 times,” she said.

In retrospect, Aviles attributes the city’s success to ensuring the residents’ concerns are heard and acting on them. There’s also the importance of considering how quality of life and economic development factors intersect and enter the mix in any city.

“Hoboken, for example, is in a transit hub,” she said. “We have commuters where our proximity to the city to Jersey City and all the other nearby towns — we have a lot of transit going through here. We want also to meet those demands so that if someone is coming through Hoboken to shop and dine, they can charge before they hit the road.”

RIGHT: Hoboken will use data from the six-month pilot program to develop a database of electric vehicle ownership across the city to help understand constraints and opportunities for expanding access to electric vehicle charging. (Photo provided by the city of Hoboken, N.J.)

BMP: Optimizing efficiency for stormwater pollutant control

By PATRICK FITZGERALD | The ODB Company (All photos provided)

Numerous studies have demonstrated that collecting leaves and debris before they enter the stormwater system is the lowest cost, fastest and simplest means to keep contaminants out of area water systems.

Pressure from EPA, state agencies, local governments and environmental groups, continues to increase the requirements for limiting the release of phosphorous, nitrogen and sediment loads to area water systems.

In January 2017, the EPA implemented the Final MS4 Permit Remand Rule (Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems) to help ensure compliance with the Federal Clean Water Act. The NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) Stormwater Program further supports the goal of minimizing polluted stormwater run-off. Nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment are particularly problematic to watershed and waterway health.

Too much nitrogen and phosphorus cause algae to grow faster than ecosystems can handle. Algae blooms significantly harm water quality, food resources and habitats, and decrease the oxygen that fish and other aquatic life need to survive. (Below are 2 data points from a USGS study.) • Nearly 60% of the annual phosphorus yield comes from leaf litter in the fall. • Timely removal of leaf litter can reduce phosphorus concentrations by 80%. ABOVE: Leaf and debris vacuum collections systems have become an important part of many community’s street cleaning programs. With MS4 and NPDES, they have also become a critical part of, and budgeted from, their stormwater programs.

Pictured is ODB’s patent-pending singleengine DCL1000SE, 25 cubic yard leaf and debris vacuum truck. The DCL1000SE is the most powerful and efficient vacuum truck available. With 150 horsepower to the 32” suction impeller, it has twice the suction horsepower of any other truck-mounted system. The single-engine configuration has 61% fewer collection system maintenance points and reduced fuel consumption making the DCL1000SE easier to maintain and less costly to operate. The end result is more curb miles cleaned in less time, at a lower cost/mile.

Leaf vacuum trucks can easily clean the street and pick up leaves 3-5 feet beyond the curb, without damaging the turf.

COST-EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES

The Chesapeake Bay Program and others have conducted numerous studies to identify the Best Management Practices (BMP’s) to prevent pollutants from reaching area waterways to help stormwater managers meet the EPA’s Final MS4 Rule. It was clearly demonstrated that the fastest, simplest and most cost-effective strategy for MS4 compliance was to capture leaves and debris from streets prior to entering the stormwater system.

FASTER CLEAN-UP

It is well understood that high-capacity leaf and debris vacuum collection systems, in combination with regenerative or pure vac sweepers, can clean more curb miles in less time, more thoroughly, and at a lower cost per mile.

The leaf and debris vacuum system picks up high volumes of leaves rapidly, while a street sweeper cleans up any residual debris in one pass.

Normally a leaf vacuum truck might travel a little slower and pick up most of the leaves, but with the sweeper following right behind, the leaf vacuum can move faster, and any remaining debris is thoroughly cleaned up by the sweeper. The units continue on to the next street, and the one after that, without delay.

PICKING UP LEAVES BEFORE THEY END UP IN THE GUTTER

Leaf vacuum trucks help keep leaves off the streets by the ability to pick up leaves 3-5 feet beyond the curb, without damaging the grounds. Leaves that would probably end in the street in the next day or two.

INCREASED CAPACITY = INCREASED PRODUCTION

Working in tandem, a leaf vacuum and sweeper significantly increases the number of streets cleaned per day. This combination can effectively clean approximately 4-5 times more curb miles without interruption before needing to go to the dump.

A typical leaf vac collection capacity is about 20-25 cubic yards, combined with the typical sweeper hopper capacity of 7-9 cubic yards, yields 27-34 cubic yards of street debris collected per run.

Regenerative and pure vacuum sweepers are very capable of picking up leaves, however, during leaf season the large piles of leaves can be overwhelming for a sweeper alone. Multiple passes are often required to whittle down the piles, substantially limiting the curb miles that can be cleaned per day.

During leaf season, many communities send out leaf vacuums in advance to collect large volumes of leaves quickly as they end up in the Working in tandem, a leaf vacuum and sweeper significantly increases the number of streets cleaned per day, at a lower total cost. This combination can effectively clean approximately 4-5 times more curb miles without interruption before needing to dump. In the above photos, both trucks are single-operator systems. This configuration requires only 2 workers to get the job done. The vacuum unit is ODB’s patented CDL-exempt, 16 cubic yard capacity DCL500SM which gives a municipality greater labor flexibility. The sweeper is Schwarze’s A7 Tornado™ high capacity 8.4 cubic yard hopper regenerative air sweeper.

street. The sweepers can be sent on different routes, and on different days, depending on needs and conditions, allowing the municipality to optimize resources and schedules.

LEAF AND DEBRIS VACUUM SYSTEMS

Leaf and debris collection systems have had a long history of helping protect and preserve the environment, however, it’s only in the last 20 years that we’ve realized it!

These systems come in a variety of types to suit a municipality’s needs and resources; truck-mounted, self-contained trailers and tow-behind leaf loaders.

Since 1910, The ODB Company (Old Dominion Brush) has been manufacturing the tools and equipment to help keep communities clean. From street sweeper brushes and brooms to leaf and debris collection equipment that is recognized as the highest performing, safest and most efficient systems available.

If you would like more information on stormwater management strategies, copies of research papers and findings from the Chesapeake Bay Program, University of Florida, USGS WI Water Science Center and others, and/or would like more information on leaf and debris collection systems, please contact Patrick Fitzgerald at pfitzgerald@odbco.com.