NJ Transit is Planning a Nine Percent Fare Increase, Says Report

Get ready to tighten your belts, New Jersey Transit riders… your daily commute may be about to get more expensive.

To make up for a budget shortfall, New Jersey Transit officials are planning a potential nine percent rate hike for its millions of riders, reported the Wall Street Journal.

The rate hike would be the first in five years, according to the transportation agency’s most recent annual report.

An official announcement and specific proposed rate increases are expected within a week, although any fare hike would require public hearings and a vote by NJ Transit board members.

According to the WSJ:

“The proposed increase is well below the last one, in 2010, when the agency raised fares by 22% on average. NJ Transit faced a $300 million budget gap then. This time there is an $80 million deficit to close.”

NJ Transit officials estimated that rider fares would total $929 million in 2015, according to the agency’s website.

Some commuters took to Twitter to criticize the potential fare hikes under the hashtag #nofareincrease

“It’s absurd we won’t raise revenue for roads, but rail users always get hit,” one commenter wrote.

BY THE NUMBERS

According to NJ Transit statistics, the publically funded transportation agency:

• Will take in an estimated $929 million in rider fares in 2015
• Provides more than 950,000 unlinked passenger trips on an average weekday
• Provides 386 New Jersey municipalities with bus service and 117 towns with rail service
• Serves 27,224 riders per day at Newark Penn Station and 14,444 riders per day at Hoboken Terminal