NJ Transit announced earlier this year a proposed 15 percent fare hike. Officials say a budget shortfall of $119 million is the reason for the hike. Still, many riders are not happy about the potential rising prices.
It’s the second commuter-related price hike announced in NJ this year.
NJ Transit has not increased fares since 2015, but officials say due to the budget shortfall, they are left with no choice. The proposed hike is 15 percent in the first year, followed by a 3 percent hike annually for the following years.
Following the Covid-19 Pandemic, NJ Transit has still yet to see their rider count come back to pre-2020 levels—a scenario that has resulted in a loss of $2 billion in revenue.
On Tuesday morning, several NJ Transit riders showed up to a hearing on the proposed budget to express their concerns. However, attendance was low due to no virtual option being offered.
Wednesday will hold two more hearings on the matter—one in Trenton at 10 a.m. and one in Belmar at 6 p.m. Many riders are concerned that they are responsible to make up for a budget loss that they did not create.
TODAY: Public hearings on NJ TRANSIT’s proposed fare adjustment will be held in Trenton from 10am-12pm and Belmar from 6pm-8pm. For more info, visit https://t.co/gHwPsZP5PC pic.twitter.com/5IZbbcyABt
— NJ TRANSIT (@NJTRANSIT) March 6, 2024
NJ Transit has employed Federal funding to help close the budget gap, but additional funding is still needed as the money is poised to run out soon. In addition to a fare hike, Governor Murphy has proposed a corporate transit tax, which would set out to tax NJ’s largest corporations as a means to help fund NJ Transit. How this corporate tax would affect the NJ Transit fare hike has yet to be determined.
The NJ Transit board will vote on the matter in April.
