NJ Transit riders to see fare hike starting July 1

by Morgan Leason, New Jersey Monitor

NJ Transit users will pay more to use the agency’s trains and buses starting Tuesday when a 3% fare increase its board of directors approved last year goes into effect.

The hike is expected to allow NJ Transit to collect nearly $1 billion in farebox revenue, and it comes after last year’s double-digit fare increase. Critics have called the back-to-back fare hikes unfair to NJ Transit riders.

“Fares are best increased in small increments over long periods of time. So to have a 15% and then a 3% right after that is too much, especially when wages are not increasing at the same rates,” Alex Ambrose, policy analyst at progressive think tank New Jersey Policy Perspective, told the New Jersey Monitor.

NJ Transit spokesman Jim Smith in a statement defended the fare hikes, saying smaller, predictable increases allow the agency to better keep pace with annual cost increases.

“This allows us to continue to operate full service while making necessary improvements to the customer experience and maintaining the ability to respond to evolving needs,” Smith said.

Smith noted that in the last two years, multiple private bus companies abandoned dozens of routes with little notice that NJ Transit was able to absorb.

NJ Transit has faced fiscal challenges in recent years, with state lawmakers last year approving a new business surtax aimed at generating revenue for the agency. This year’s 3% fare hike was approved last year as part of a plan to increase fares annually.

Critics have said even with that revenue stream, the state has not funded NJ Transit at adequate levels, leading to worse service that discourages riders from using it.

“Lawmakers have not prioritized transit and have left it underfunded, which has led to fewer people taking it, which has led to less fare revenue, etcetera, etcetera,” Ambrose said.

Talia Crawford with advocacy group Tri-State Transportation Campaign told the New Jersey Monitor that the state needs a new funding source for transportation.

“Working-class families who are dependent on New Jersey Transit can’t afford a 3% increase every single year,” Crawford said. “It’s a lot of money, especially with rising costs of living, including my child care, housing, health care — everything is increasing.”

NJ Transit has proposed a $3.2 billion operating budget for the fiscal year that begins Tuesday.

See a list of the new fare increases here.