JERSEY CITY, N.Y. (WCBS 880) -- A new app-based transit system will allow Jersey City residents to access service when they want it, not when the buses are running.
Via is partnering with Jersey City to serve transit deserts in the first partnership of its kind in New Jersey.
This new public transit service is actually a ride-share system, meaning that instead of checking a bus schedule, riders can order a ride with a tap of their phone.
Alex Lavoie of Via says you can reserve by app or by phone. But you won't necessarily be picked up at your door.
"You walk up a few blocks to a nearby corner to your pickup and that makes the overall system much more efficient," Lavoie said.
The company will roll out 14 six-passenger vans that will run Monday through Friday. Riders will pay $2, with discounts available for senior citizens and low-income residents, and the city is kicking in nearly $2 million for the year.
Mayor Steve Fulop thinks its a good investment.
"We view it as one of our responsibilities as government is to provide services and mass transit is one of those key services," Fulop said.
Business administrator Brian Platt expects the average wait time will be six to 10 minutes.
"Compare that to what a lot of our residents experience now which is a 10 to 15 walk to a bus station or a light rail station and then another 10 to 15 minutes of waiting for that mode of transit to come," he said.
The service is expected to start in three months.
The program will not serve Journal Square and Downtown.
The service is available in at least 80 other communities across the country.