At first fare hike hearing, NJ Transit urged to take new tack

A small group of South Jersey NJ Transit riders on Monday urged the agency away from a plan to raise fares for the first time in nearly a decade at the first of 10 public hearings planned on the proposal this week.

While the opposition to the agency’s proposed 15% fare hike was not universal, some of the 10 witnesses who spoke discouraged the agency from implementing other measures to cut costs and boost revenue, and one said NJ Transit should not move forward with a plan to hike fares additionally by 3% annually starting next year.

“NJ Transit may go forth with this one-off fare hike, but 3% annual fare hikes ought to be shelved or set aside, and other revenue sources sought,” said James Thorton, a Salem County resident who commutes to Cherry Hill to take a train into Philadelphia.

The fare hikes must be weighed against the quality of services in South Jersey, Thorton said. Most of NJ Transit’s rail lines are concentrated in the northern and central regions of the state. The river line runs from Camden to Trenton, and the Atlantic City line runs from its namesake to Philadelphia’s 30th Street station.

Cancellations remain an issue despite improvements to NJ Transit’s reliability, Thorton said, sometimes leaving riders with no train out of Philadelphia and no buses to make up for the loss. He said they are so frequent as to “leave riders with the impression that NJ Transit just doesn’t care.”

NJ Transit is seeking to raise fares to fill a $106.6 million budget gap not covered by other cost-saving and revenue-boosting measures the agency plans to adopt for the coming budget year, which starts July 1. That hike would be followed by annual 3% fare increases starting a year from then.

If the agency’s board approves the hike at its April 10 meeting, NJ Transit would still be left with a $766.8 million shortfall in the budget year that begins July 2025.

Gov. Phil Murphy has proposed filling the larger gap with a revived business tax surcharge on firms with more than $10 million in annual profits, a new tax that is expected to generate roughly $800 million in annual revenue that would be dedicated to NJ Transit through statute.

Murphy’s planned corporate transit tax to fund NJ Transit prompts praise and jeers

One witness Monday marked support for the corporate transit fee, suggesting federal funds awaiting congressional approval could also be used to bolster the agency’s budget.

“What we can’t have is trying to balance the budget on the back of riders, and again, fully recognizing the fiscal cliff that we’re looking at,” said Debra Coyle, executive director of the New Jersey Work Environment Council. “We want investment in New Jersey Transit. We need our buses to operate. We need the trains to operate.”

Another witness told agency officials he does not oppose the 15% fare increase, calling it “adequate and needed,” but urged the agency to simplify the dozens of zone-based bus fares it currently charges.

“Going to various South Jersey points, it’s not always clear how much the fare is going to be, and they only take exact change,” said David Hamilton, a Philadelphia resident.

Yet others took aim at some other measures the agency is exploring to cut costs or boost revenue, like the creation of a 30-day expiration period for one-way tickets. Currently, NJ Transit tickets never expire.

“Please reconsider and do not shorten the expiration dates to 30 days, which could adversely affect seniors and low-income people who might buy tickets in bulk with tax refunds,” said Robin Williamson, adding expirations could also harm those who could not use transit for months for medical reasons.

Williamson also urged the agency to boost late-night security at Camden’s Walter Rand Transportation Center, noting riders are often there alone in the wee hours of the morning.

Anthony Abrantes, an NJ Transit board member who attended the Cherry Hill hearing, said he hoped a presentation outlining NJ Transit’s fiscal challenges — which include 30% inflation and a 47% increase in health benefit costs since the agency’s last fare hike in 2015 — could help riders understand the need for heightened fares.

But he acknowledged the higher fares would trouble some riders, and he urged them to make their worries known.

“I’d say just based on the feedback we got here, there are a lot of challenges that people feel or are concerned about,” Abrantes said. “Use this forum as a means to educate us, the board members, and the administration … about what some of those challenges are and how we can be helpful.”

Some 30 miles north of Monday’s hearing, lawmakers on the Assembly Transportation Committee approved a bill that would create a rider advocate within NJ Transit who would be required to study proposed fare increases and represent riders’ interests to the agency.