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NJ Transit Board Approves 9 Percent Fare Hike

Today the New Jersey Transit Board of Directors approved a proposal to raise fares by 9 percent and implement service cuts exactly how it was proposed back in April.  The changes will take effect on October 1, 2015.

Despite pleas from advocates and commuters who oppose the proposal, each and every board member voted to approve the hikes and cuts, validating their vote by saying “their hands were tied” and that they “had no choice.” Vice Chairman Bruce Meisel explained that the board is “operating within the framework of the cards they were dealt” as he justified his affirmative vote. Meisel, posing a rehearsed hypothetical to NJ Transit Executive Director Ronnie Hakim, wondered what would happen if the proposal was voted down. Hakim’s response was substantial service cuts with layoffs approaching 1,000.

Absent from the board’s explanation was that the “cards dealt” came from Trenton. There was no mention of the governor’s continued failure to address his state’s transportation troubles. No mention of the legislature’s inaction in helping to prevent the fare increase during budget negotiations. No mention of the decreased direct state subsidy, once as high as $300 million in 2005 and now only $33 million, which landed NJ Transit in this mess to begin with.

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[…] for the Tri-State Transportation Campaign’s Mobilizing the Region blog, Janna Chernetz reports from yesterday’s vote to raise fares again, at a meeting where […]

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[…] last few days have been particularly bad for New Jersey Transit, especially since the agency approved a fare increase just one week […]

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[…] compare with what’s happening across the Hudson. New Jersey Transit riders have seen five fare increases since 2000 (two under Christie’s watch), but the governor won’t budge on raising the […]

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[…] governor — who, by the way, never called for tax cuts to match the 9 percent New Jersey Transit fare increase which took effect today — calls this “tax fairness.” We call it […]

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[…] Transit recently imposed a 9 percent fare hike and service cuts to help close a $60 million operating budget hole […]

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[…] rounded out 2015 with record poor performance, lacking operating revenue, capital fund raids, a 9 percent fare hike, service cuts and a widening $400 million budget gap. One bill (S2804) could have added two […]

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[…] October, NJ Transit raised fares by 9 percent and cut service to close a $56 million deficit in the FY 2016 budget. Former NJ […]

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[…] He cancelled the Access to the Region’s Core project, presided over two NJ Transit fare increases, failed to make good on a promise to fund transportation with more cash and less debt, and has […]

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[…] Enter Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto, who engineered a deal late Monday with Governor Christie to raise the gas tax while reducing the sales tax from 7 percent to 6.5 percent on January 1, 2017 and then again to 6 percent a year later. The plan would replenish the TTF, but it would present trouble for NJ Transit, whose operating subsidy has historically come from the general fund (although over the last decade the agency has relied more heavily on Clean Energy Fund raids, toll revenue and and capital-to-operating transfers). It seems likely that another hit to NJ Transit’s budget will eventually lead to more fare hikes and service cuts. […]

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[…] Enter Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto, who engineered a deal late Monday with Governor Christie to raise the gas tax while reducing the sales tax from 7 percent to 6.5 percent on January 1, 2017 and then again to 6 percent a year later. The plan would replenish the TTF, but it would present trouble for NJ Transit, whose operating subsidy has historically come from the general fund (although over the last decade the agency has relied more heavily on Clean Energy Fund raids, toll revenue and and capital-to-operating transfers). It seems likely that another hit to NJ Transit’s budget will eventually lead to more fare hikes and service cuts. […]

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[…] that isn’t coupled with unrelated tax cuts. (Where was the call for tax cuts when NJ Transit voted to raise fares last summer?) And this irrational insistence on “tax fairness” has resulted in a […]

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