Princeton Council discusses community resources, e-bikes during summer meetings

This summer, the municipality undertook a wide-reaching survey to better understand resident needs, new state legislation tightened rules surrounding e-bikes, and a potential rise in the cost of Dinky parking worried town residents.

At its July and August meetings, the Princeton Council discussed the months’ events, but refrained from implementing major proposed changes to the Dinky and the municipality’s services.

Community Needs Assessment

The Council heard a presentation on the municipality’s first Community Needs Assessment in twelve years. The assessment surveys low to moderate-income Princeton residents and older adults. The municipality’s Human Services Department and the Center for Modern Aging Princeton worked with Subuhi Asheer, a local research consultant, to survey 253 households in 2025 about their access to different services.

“This assessment set out to understand the experiences and needs of Princeton residents facing systemic barriers in order to inform municipal priorities, planning, and service provision to make sure those are driven by data and evidence,” Asheer said in her presentation to the Council.

Twenty-two percent of participants said that they had difficulty accessing services related to utility assistance, affordable medical care, and transportation, largely due to difficult application processes or being generally unaware of existing programs.

Older adults — about two thirds of whom reported a disability — also cited a lack of efficient public transportation as an issue. Over 40 percent of respondents were worried about food insecurity and about a third had delayed seeking healthcare due to costs. The numbers are a slight improvement from the 2014 assessment, where about half of respondents were concerned about food insecurity and around 40 percent had postponed seeking medical care. Residents requested help with medical costs, as well as transport to Hamilton and Trenton, which have medical facilities that Princeton does not.

This year’s survey added a new section on equity and inclusion that measured how accepted respondents felt in the Princeton community. Around 60 percent of respondents reported feeling connected to the wider community. One barrier to belonging was internet access, which 26 percent of respondents reported not having reliable access to.

Despite the identified areas for improvement, Asheer noted that “the overall picture is relatively positive.”

At the end of the presentation, recommendations were given to the Council based on the data gathered. These included increased transportation; greater cooperation between different levels of government in order to decrease confusion over services; and the promotion of affordability through initiatives like funding health clinics who have seen a decline in federal funding. However, there are currently no concrete plans on how to integrate these recommendations. 

“Identifying the needs is a first step, and creating recommended actions is a really important next step,” Councilmember David Cohen said after the presentation, noting that the recommendations in the report could be more developed. He added that the municipality should “check and see how we’re doing on a more frequent basis than every 12 years.”

Personal electric vehicle updates

Princeton Police Department Lieutenant Christopher Craven shared at the Council’s July 27 meeting that the department began tracking e-bike and e-moto crashes separately for July. The monthly police reports will now record the number of e-vehicle crashes in separate sections, compared to previous reports that had a generalized motor vehicle accident category. Princeton students are not allowed to use e-bikes on campus per a policy update in June.

The reporting change follows new state legislation requiring licensing, registration, and insurance for all motorized bicycles in the state. The law passed earlier this year in January, with a grace period for relaxed compliance until July.

“Our goal is to better understand trends, educate the public, and ultimately reduce crashes involving e-bikes, e-motos, and e-scooters,” Craven said at the meeting.

“It’s important for us to understand it, be able to share with the community the safety concerns involved with [e-vehicles],” Councilman David Cohen said following the presentation, citing “an enormous increase in rate of injury compared to traditional bicycles” for e-bikes in California.

Despite increased concern, the Princeton Police Department has “not seen a significant increase in the overall number of bicycle and e-bike crashes compared with previous years,” Captain Thomas Lagomarsino wrote in a statement to The Daily Princetonian.

“Before we really get to enforcement, we want to educate everybody because it’s new to everyone, including the police department,” Craven said at the meeting. Local residents can expect events focused on safety education, including a course on vulnerable road users hosted by the police department, according to Lagomarsino.

“The Princeton Police Department encourages anyone operating an e-bike or e-moto to familiarize themselves with the laws governing their vehicle, follow the rules of the road, use appropriate safety equipment, and exercise caution around pedestrians and other road users,” wrote Lagomarsino.

Proposed parking changes

At the Aug. 10 meeting, the Council discussed, and ultimately chose to hold off on, updating the municipality’s public parking fees and regulations following community pushback. The proposed changes in the ordinance would have increased parking rates at the Princeton train station parking lot, among other changes to parking fees.

The Council described a “Donald Shoup” system, referencing an urban planning book by the late UCLA professor. The update would instate higher parking rates in areas with higher demand. Increased revenue would be used to fund other municipal services, such as trash collection, street sweeping, and tax relief.

The ordinance would consequently raise parking rates in the parking lot, a busy hub for commuters and locals.

“Increasing parking rates for Dinky riders creates a disincentive for using the Dinky,” said Anita Garoniak, president of Save the Dinky, a New Jersey nonprofit that has advocated for the preservation of the Princeton Dinky since 2012.

Former Princeton Borough Mayor Yina Moore ’79 noted that, currently, parking at the Dinky and taking the train both ways is five cents cheaper than parking directly and paying at a parking kiosk at Princeton Junction.

A parking ticket purchased from a pay station at Princeton Junction costs $12.35. An adult one-way train ticket from Princeton to Princeton Junction costs $3.65 and parking costs $5, totalling to $12.30 a day, per NJ Transit. The ordinance, however, would raise the cost of parking at the Dinky to $10, making it the more expensive option.

“Higher parking fees will affect the calculus made by commuters who choose between taking the Dinky to the Junction, or driving there and parking, or taking an Uber,” said Kip Cherry, a board member of Save the Dinky.

Van Kauja, a Princeton resident who does not own a car, noted the impact of higher parking rates on communities beyond commuters. “It does look like if the price of parking is higher, there’s a disincentivization to use the Dinky and then I lose the Dinky," he said, expressing concerns that the rail line could be closed.

After lengthy discussion, the Council outlined five key groups to consider in their decision: Dinky riders and commuters, University students, University employees, contractors and construction workers, and visitors, especially during major University events.

The Council voted to maintain the current $5 parking rate, with the intention to monitor parking trends and gather information across the next three to four months in order to revisit the issue.

The Council also discussed an ordinance that would regulate parking on Hun Road, near the Hun School of Princeton, at the Aug. 10 meeting. Under the ordinance, “parking will not be allowed on the even-numbered side of the road,” assistant municipal engineer Jim Purcell said.

The changes were proposed in response to safety concerns on the narrow road, which is only 24 feet wide, and the potential blocking of emergency vehicles. After initial deliberation, the Council deemed the ordinance to be a “significant change” that warranted a public hearing. The ordinance was passed on Aug. 24.

Another ordinance addressed parking regulations on Walnut Lane and Guyot Avenue. The changes are due to construction at the Princeton Middle School, which are anticipated to take a few years, and were unanimously approved.

Health insurance switch

Significant, double digit increases over multiple years in the cost of New Jersey’s state health insurance plans for government employees have strained local government budgets. At the Council’s Aug. 24 meeting, council members approved a plan to shift Princeton municipal employees from the state plan to the NJ Solutions Joint Health Insurance Fund.

According to Councilmember Brian McDonald ’83, Princeton tried to switch plans last year, but discussions with the municipality’s three unions did not conclude in time. Now, the municipality is set to leave the state plan on Nov. 1.

Municipal administrator Bernie Hvozdovic said at the meeting that the switch will result in at least a 13 percentage point reduction in the cost of health insurance next year while all benefits will remain the same.

The Princeton Council typically meets on the second and fourth Monday of each month at 7 p.m. Its next meeting will be held on Sept. 14.

Michelle Harris is a News contributor for the ‘Prince’ and a member of the Class of 2030. 

Kevin Jin is a News contributor for the ‘Prince’ and a member of the Class of 2030. 

Hifza Kaleem is a News contributor for the ‘Prince’ and a member of the Class of 2030. 

Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.