Traffic, bike lanes: Two of the reasons for general discontent among Hudson voters | Quigley

Plenty of pundits are speculating about what caused New Jersey's surprising shift to the right in the recent election. They have plenty of theories, too, but most come down to just one thing: People are not happy about a zillion things that seem to be going wrong – from high taxes and even higher grocery bills, more traffic and unresponsive cops and local officials, to hating their jobs and worrying about their health.

Many of the theories concern political correctness, wokeness, DEI and overdone liberalism. People are just plain fed up with being told how to speak, act and think and being shamed for daring to disagree with those who are telling them.

I'm going to throw one little thing into that mix. Not a big, major national issue at all. But a genuine irritant around Hudson County that might be feeding a general sense of discontent.

It's our roads and streets – the huge growth in traffic, growing numbers of people who don't think traffic laws apply to them, lack of police presence on our streets and roads, number of e-bikes and scooters endangering pedestrians and drivers and what almost everybody seems to call "those damned bike lanes."

In every public meeting I've attended recently, in many chats with neighbors, and almost every time some stranger recognizes me from my Jersey Journal photo, people want to gripe about no traffic control, no police around, frightening bikers and scooter riders and "those damned bike lanes."

They complain the bike lanes clog streets, delay passage of emergency vehicles, encourage double parking and are "never" used by commercial bike riders.

"Why don't you write about that?" they ask.

Somehow they seem to think that if we only brought the issue to everyone's attention things would change.

But there's barely anyone around, I believe, who doesn't know about the issue already and there are no signs of things changing.

Understaffed police departments must choose between controlling traffic and fighting crime. All opt for crime prevention, leaving drivers to fend for themselves and bikers to run amok. We understand patrol cars and cops on foot can't chase down scooters and bikers who ride on sidewalks, dash down alleys, and can't be reliably identified because they have no license plates.

And senior officers prefer to point with pride to lowering crime statistics instead of persuading even the newest of rookies to stand at an intersection directing traffic.

Jersey City has clearly given up on traffic enforcement. Other municipalities do a better job of controlling traffic, but there are so many more vehicles on our roads than even a decade ago, it would require many more officers to prevent bad drivers from endangering and frustrating good drivers.

Hoboken and Jersey City have tried to address the issue of anonymous and out-of-control e-bike and scooter riders without much success. State laws don't require such drivers to get licenses, undergo training or have insurance. No one wants to enact regulations that would eliminate jobs or impose unaffordable burdens, but something will have to be done sooner or later.

And, finally, "those damned bike lanes." They have strong support of a loud and vocal minority, especially in Jersey City, but they are hated by the vast majority of local taxpayers who mumble curses rather than attend council meetings. The people who attend other public meetings, however, have a lot to say. They tend to be the over-50 crowd who are unlikely to ever ride a bike in town and they feel ignored and disrespected.

Maybe some showed their frustration in a national election. Local elections are next.