Hello everyone! My name is Elodie Weinman and I recently became a Transportation and Environmental Justice Summer Fellow at Tri-State Transportation Campaign. TSTC is a non-profit advocacy organization that is dedicated to improving transportation all across the Tri-state area. In my role there, I have learned about the struggles, challenges, and possibilities of public transportation, specifically the ones residents and users of NJ Transit face.
Today I am here to discuss two things, the first is to congratulate those who worked on the passing of the Corporate Transit Fee. This fee will uphold a 2.5% tax on businesses making $10 million or more in profit. According to the new budget projections, the tax will generate the dollars necessary to lift NJ Transit out of its almost 1 billion dollar debt (917.8 million dollars specifically) and pave the way for the growth of the agency. However, the second thing I am here today to discuss is the 15% fare hike that was implemented in the process of passing the transit fee. This fare hike is unnecessary especially after the passing of the Corporate Transit Fee because the fee lifts NJT almost entirely out of debt and adding this increase on top of that seems like an unnecessary burden being placed on riders and commuters. I would like to urge the NJ Transit Board of Directors to reconsider the transit fare hike.
The fare hike is a problem that affects all riders and users of NJ Transit, but it affects most notably lower income families and people of color as they make up the majority of riders. Lower income families and people of color use buses and trains as main tools to get to and from work as well as to do tasks like going to do laundry, grocery shopping, etc. It is a tool that is necessary to a prospering life for most New Jersey residents. Therefore when you increase fare and decrease accessibility, all the users and riders who benefit and depend on the system will be unable to do all these things. If the NJ Transit Board of Directors is capable of helping its citizens, getting rid of this fare hike is the first thing that needs to be done to help them.
Lower income individuals often have no viable transportation alternatives, in comparison to the more wealthy people who may have access to private vehicles or other transportations options. This dependency on public transit makes them particularly vulnerable to implementations like the 15% fare hike because even a small increase in transit fares can significantly impact their ability to afford daily commuting. Alongside the fare increase, New Jersey transportation users experience delays, cancellations, and overall lack of care towards a system that is so heavily depended on. This is why I am here today, to urge the NJ Transit Board to stop this 15% fare hike and make transit more accessible to all! Thank you for your time.
