New Jersey Transit, facing a $60 million budget deficit for FY2016, announced a proposed 9 percent fare hike. If approved at the July 8 NJT Board meeting, the increase would take effect on October 1, 2015.
The FY2016 deficit stems from an overall transportation funding crisis in New Jersey.
New Jersey Transit riders pay some of the highest fares in the nation. The last fare hike was in 2010 where riders were hit with an historically high 22 percent increase. Meanwhile, New Jersey’s gas tax remains the second lowest in the country at 14.5 cents per gallon, and has not been raised since 1988.
If that wasn’t enough, along with the proposed fare hike is a number of proposed service cuts:
RAIL:
Pascack Valley Line: Proposed Elimination of Train #1601, the 12:45 a.m. departure from Hoboken (Details at Hackensack and Secaucus Hearings)
Montclair-Boonton Line: Proposed Elimination of Train #1043, the 12:32 a.m. departure from Hoboken (Details at Newark and Secaucus Hearings)
BUS:
419 Camden – Pennsauken – Burlington: (Proposed Elimination of Service Between Riverside and Burlington City (Details at Camden Hearing)
463 Woodbury – Avandale Park-Ride: (Proposed Elimination of the Last PM Trip in Each direction (Details at Camden Hearing)
307 Freehold – Great Adventure: (Proposed Service Discontinuance (Details at Freehold Hearing)
318 Philadelphia – Great Adventure: Proposed Service Discontinuance (Details at Camden Hearing)
655 Princeton – Plainsboro: Proposed Service Discontinuance (Details at Trenton Hearing)
872 Morristown – Route 10 – Livingston: Proposed Elimination of Service Between Mack-Cali (Parsippany) and Livingston Mall (Details at Morristown Hearing)
NJTransit will hold nine public hearings between May 18 and May 21. If you can’t make it to testify in person, you may submit comments via mail to: PUBLIC HEARING OFFICE – FARE PROPOSAL COMMENTS, ONE PENN PLAZA EAST, NEWARK, NJ 07105; online at www.njtransit.com, or dropped off at Customer Service Offices. The online public comment period will be extended until 11:59 p.m., Thursday, May 21.
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