NJ Transit board adopts fare hikes starting May 1

NEWARK, N.J. - NJ Transit bus and rail riders will pay more to reach their destinations starting May 1.

The agency's board voted Wednesday to increase fares up to 25 percent for rail and intercity bus service - including routes between South Jersey and Philadelphia - and 10 percent for local buses and light rail. The board also eliminated off-peak discounts.

The action was not as drastic as what NJ Transit had proposed last month, before a series of public hearings. Officials restored almost $4 million in bus routes and services they had said would be cut.

The agency faces a $300 million budget shortfall for the fiscal year that begins July 1. Its state subsidy was cut 11 percent, and the $159 million in federal funding it received last year was a one-time windfall. Wednesday's action is expected to eliminate about half the shortfall.

"We're not doing this because we like to raise fares," executive director James Weinstein said. "We're doing this because we have the responsibility to preserve one of the great transit systems in this country."

Before the vote, riders and mass-transit advocates said cutting services and eliminating routes would hit a certain segment hardest, including low-income riders, students, elderly people, and riders with disabilities.

Several speakers called for higher gasoline taxes or new tolls as a way for New Jersey drivers to share the burden.

"There would be much less pain per person when more people chip in," said Newark resident Gary Johnson. "Everybody should pay, including those who benefit when somebody else decides not to drive."

Those who take advantage of off-peak fares will feel more pain than others when fares go up and discounts are cut. For instance, an off-peak ticket from New York City to Trenton is $12.50 one-way and $21.50 round-trip. In May, that trip will cost $15.50 one-way and $31 round trip.

The agency last raised fares in 2007, about 9 percent, because record ridership required expanded services. Weinstein said it estimated a possible drop-off in ridership of about 5 percent as a result of the increases.

No new fare hikes are on the horizon, Weinstein added.

"Short of the world coming to an end, we're not going to be looking at a fare hike for quite a while," he said.

NJ Transit previously announced an emergency spending freeze and plans to reduce its workforce by about 2 percent, trim executive salaries by 5 percent, and reduce corporate contributions to employees' 401(k) plans by one-third.

Officials say those cuts - expected to save about $30 million - represent the deepest one-year staff reduction in the agency's 30 years.

Also Wednesday, the board approved hiring a financial advisory firm to analyze how best to use NJ Transit parking facilities, including their possible privatization.