NJ Transit Fare Hike
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Retired state Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg isn’t done with NJ Transit.
She and state Assemblywoman Shama Haider, D-Bergen, said NJ Transit’s board of directors should delay an April vote on a 15% fare increase until more information is known about the business transit fee Gov. Phil Murphy proposed during last week’s budget message.
Jhanak on location: Anirudh and Jhanak’s truth gets exposed infront of the familyJhanak on location: Anirudh and Jhanak’s truth gets exposed infront of the familyHaider called the proposed fare increase a hardship on people in her district, many of whom are bus commuters. She said it is premature for NJ Transit‘s board of directors to approve a fare increase until state officials know how much money will be raised by the business transit fee that Murphy proposed.
“How can they adopt this in April before they know what the (state) budget is going to be?” Weinberg said after a hearing on the hike. “They need to look at the whole budget and where this fits in.”
Among the unknowns are what the income will be from the fee and and when funds will be available, she said.
They were joined on Wednesday by a group of transportation advocates who called for NJ Transit to roll back the proposed 15% fare increase after Gov. Murphy proposed the business transit fee, which hasn’t a consideration in January when the fare hike was announced.
“Now that the governor has identified a new source of funding for the agency, there’s no need to rush through a drastic fare hike that could do more harm than good,” said Alex Ambrose, Policy Analyst at New Jersey Policy Perspective, in a statement. “A double-digit fare hike could price out low-income residents, harming the state’s economy and leading to a further drop in ridership.”
Advocates said a 15% fare increase hits commuters at a time when many are seeing single digit wage increases on top of inflation. Hardest hit would be low income and transit dependant local bus service which in past fare increases had been spared the entire amount of fare hikes in 2010 and 2015.
“Small and predictable fare increases make sense to offset rising costs, but the proposed double-digit increase will cause unnecessary pain for families already struggling with a skyrocketing cost of living,” said Zoe Baldwin, New Jersey director for the Regional Plan Association.
Advocates made their call at a fare increase hering in Trenton on Wednesday morning and mentioned Weinberg and Haider’s concerns.
“To me, the biggest news they could make is backing off that April deadline and waiting until June 30,” Weinberg said.
“This is so piecemeal, it’s not how most of us would do our household budget.”
The revenue should be constitutionally dedicated so it cannot be taken away by any governor, said Haider, who suggested expanding the business fee to companies making over $1 million in profits.
“There is no need to rush in to this,” she said.
Weinberg and Haider were among roughy 20 people who attended Tuesday night’s fare increase hearing in the Bergen County complex in Hackensack.
Both were among several speakers who said NJ Transit should have offered a remote or Zoom option for people to testify at public hearing.
“That is so basic, I attend the board meetings online,” Haider said. “In this day and age, it shouldn’t be an issue. They have the technology.”
One woman said she squeezed onto a crowded bus and stood through the trip to make the 6 p.m. start time, and asked that a remote option should be offered.
Other comments at the public hearing had to do with proposals in addition to the fare increase package.
Plans to eliminate the discounted 20 ride FlexPass ticket would increase his costs more than the fare increase, said commuter Perry Bloch.
“Removing FlexPass is a 43% increase in fares,” he said. “Please don’t take away FlexPass.”
That discounted pass drops the price of a one-way train fare from $6.20 to $5.20 for him, said Bloch, who commutes four times a week and works from home one day. After running the numbers, having to switch to a more costly monthly pass would increase his commuting costs, Bloch said.
“I read the (fare increase) proposal and understand it’s to maintain the system,” he said. “I’m not here to oppose the fare increase outright.”
Another proposal that brought opposition was a proposal to put a 30-day limit on ticket expiration. That puts a burden on commuters who buy paper tickets, said Sally Jane Gellert, Lackawanna Commuter Coalition chairwoman.
“We see no value of a 30-day expiration of tickets,” she said. “Those (who) use paper tickets will have will have monitor the dates closely.”
The 15% fare increase proposal was introduced on Jan. 24 and if approved, take effect on July 1. In addition to $44 million in non-service cost-cutting and $52 million in revenue enhancements, a predicted $119 million budget gap is brought to $106 million, an amount that the fare increase would cover.
In addition to the increase, the package gives NJ Transit the authority to enact an annual 3% fare increase each July 1. The last fare increase was in 2015.
The proposed increase would raise the cost of a one zone bus fare from $1.60 to $1.80, a trip from Jersey City to the Port Authority bus terminal in New York would increase from $3.50 to $4, bus fare from Toms River to New York City would rise from $21.25 to $24.40, according to agency documents.
Rail fare would increase from $16 to $18.40 for a one-way trip from Princeton Junction to New York. Light rail fare will increase from $2.25 to $2.55 on Hudson-Bergen, from $1.60 to $1.80 on Newark and Riverline light rail. Proposed fare tables are on NJ Transit’s website.
The Bergen County hearing is the fourth in person fare increase hearing held this week.
Others are scheduled on Wednesday at 10 a.m. in the Trenton Transportation Center and 6 p.m. in the Belmar Municipal building; Thursday at 10 a.m. at Kean University in Union and at 6 p.m. in the Berkeley College student center, Rahway Avenue, Woodbridge; and Friday at 10 a.m. in the long hall way at Secaucus Junction Train Station and 6 p.m, at NJ Transit’s corporate offices in the board room at 1 Penn Plaza in Newark, across from Newark Penn Station.