Erin Lanahan 
A vote from the Hoboken City Council to temporarily freeze the CLEAR program will no longer be taking effect after outgoing Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla voted down the decision. On December 3, the Hoboken City Council voted to temporarily freeze the CLEAR program, the camera-based parking enforcement program, until January 15. Per Hudson County View, Mayor Bhalla vetoed the freeze on Friday, December 12th. Read on to learn about this program and its status.
The CLEAR Program
A quick recap. The Camera-based License Plate Enforcement for Access and Response, or CLEAR program, launched in October 2025, aiming to crack down on double parking in bike lanes, parking violations in bus stops, and overall make the streets safer by keeping these lanes clear. It’s part of the Vision Zero initiative to end traffic injuries and deaths by 2030.
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The system relies on cameras that the Hoboken City Council authorized in 2024. It takes photos of vehicles parked illegally along Washington Street between Observer Highway and 8th Street. These photos are then reviewed by the Hoboken Parking Utility, who determines if a ticket is warranted. If so, the vehicle owner gets a citation in the mail.
The Temporary Freeze
During a City Council meeting on December 3, the Hoboken City Council members voted 5-4 on a second reading to freeze this program until January 15.
The vote came after complaints from some local business owners who said business dropped significantly since CLEAR began because people aren’t parking along busy streets like Washington Street, according to 2nd Ward Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher.
“This is the busiest time of year for them, and their seasonal sales are down,” Councilwoman Fisher said during the meeting. “People are just not coming.”
However, some members of the council say the program has been beneficial, and don’t want to see it paused.
“It’s always been illegal to double park. We just now have an effective enforcement mechanism that allows us to enforce city ordinances,” Bike Hoboken Executive Director Andre Wilson said.
For now, the pause will delay automated parking enforcement under CLEAR, giving businesses and locals time to assess the program’s impact.
City Council required six votes to waive the 20-day wait period before the measure gets to the mayor’s desk, where he can veto it or sign it into municipal law.
Freeze Vetoed
On December 12th, Mayor Bhalla vetoed the ordinance passed by City Council to temporarily freeze the program. In his veto statement shared with Hudson County View, the Mayor stated that the program’s three-month data collection period has not yet ended and that ending the program would be, “Inconsistent with the City’s goals of increasing compliance with current laws and advancing the public safety objectives of the program.”
In the statement, Mayor Bhalla further cited support for the CLEAR program from NJ Transit, Hudson County Complete Streets, Bike Hoboken, and Bike JC.
The CLEAR Program is scheduled to conclude on December 31st, 2025. The Mayor urged City Council to continue the program through that date, after which data from the program would be evaluated for future planning. Notably, Mayor Bhalla’s term as Mayor of Hoboken will end on the same date and Mayor-Elect Emily Jabbour will take office on January 1st, 2026.
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