Just ahead of the bell, NJ Transit released its federally mandated analysis of the fare hike and service cuts‘ impact on low-income and minority populations.  The release, in response to Tri-State’s Open Public Records request a couple of weeks ago, came only days before the NJ Transit Board voted to approve the increases and cuts last week, raising questions about NJ Transit’s claim that the document was prepared in the “planning and programming stages,” as required by FTA regulations under the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The analysis concluded that most of the proposed service cuts had no disproportionate impact on low income and minority populations.  But NJ Transit’s analysis considered only the bus routes slated for complete cancellation and cuts planned for the Atlantic City Rail Line and River Line, since only those cuts met the agency’s definition of a “major adjustment.” As for the fare increase, the agency concluded that its across-the-board 25% hike “impacts all riders, and does not disproportionately impact minority and low income riders.”

Yet before the analysis was released, NJ Transit announced a revised proposal to lower the impact on those riders, reducing the increase on local bus and light rail fares from 25% to 10% and eliminating many service cuts — heeding calls from Tri-State and others critical of the original proposal.  The adjusted proposal was analyzed in an addendum which included the following demographic data to support the changes:

However, the plan retains one feature which NJ Transit found would have a disproportionate impact on low-income riders: the elimination of rail off-peak round trip discounts.  Eliminating these means that off-peak fares will soar by 46% or more (for example, a round trip between New Brunswick and Newark will go from $12.25 to $18). Rather than mitigate the impact, NJ Transit attempted to justify the cut by claiming that the only alternatives would be a greater rail fare increase or “draconian bus service reductions.”