© Olivia Liu / USA TODAY NETWORK
Syndication: Asbury Park Press
(Trenton, NJ) — New Jersey Transit is holding more public hearings this week, as it gets set to slap riders with a 15 percent fare hike. There hasn’t been a fare increase on New Jersey Transit in nine years. The agency says it has a huge budget hole it needs to fill to keep the system up and running. Agency leaders say revenue is down because ridership has not come fully back to pre pandemic levels.
There were two public hearings on Tuesday. Riders told New Jersey Transit board members that they just can’t afford a 15 percent fare hike, set to begin in July. There will be another three percent a year hike after that. Some state lawmakers says they don’t want a fare hike until they have a full accounting of how New Jersey Transit plans to spend the money. State Assemblywoman Shama Haider says the Transit’s board of directors should delay an April vote on the new ticket prices. She says the new fare structure will be a major hardship for many constituents she represents in northern New Jersey.
