From the Record:
Fares for NJ Transit buses and trains would increase 10 percent this summer under a plan proposed Tuesday by the agency’s staff.
The new revenue would close a projected $60 million budget deficit for 2008, the same gap the agency faced in 2005, when it raised fares an average of 9.9 percent. Executive Director George D. Warrington, who has announced his resignation, said he would try to cut costs but indicated a fare increase is almost certain.
“We have taken out more than $75 million in costs over the last several years, leaving very little left to squeeze without impacting service,” Warrington said.
An increase would come at a time when NJ Transit is adding riders and increasing bus and train service. Transit officials said that reflects good public policy. But expanding service costs more money than it makes.
In a state without a dedicated funding source for mass transit, fare hikes are likely to become more frequent, Warrington said. NJ Transit will probably require a modest increase every couple years, even if the state increases its subsidy of $300 million, officials said.
…
“It is going to be very difficult to increase the fares of people who are doing the right thing — getting on a train, sitting often in crowded cars, and going to work the hard way,” Pringle said, “when we pass people who are stopped in traffic in SUVs sitting alone.”
.
Best thing to do is get a ONE WAY ticket out of NEW JERSEY and never come back !
Mrb,
I know people who felt as you did, left NJ back in the 80s… and came back because opportunities dried up wherever they were and NJ/NYC still offered a means, however lacking in quality, of continuing to raise their families.
My point? Never say never. You just never know.
Are you Sean Connery?
“I know people who felt as you did, left NJ back in the 80s… and came back because opportunities dried up wherever they were and NJ/NYC still offered a means, however lacking in quality, of continuing to raise their families.”
Fair ’nuff, though it seems that given the state’s failure to maintain a business-friendly climate (compared with other regions and even other states within the region) in the long term it would be safer to live in an area that was more business- and job-friendly.
Then again, if your industry depends on being close to NYC (such as TV, print media or investment banking), you’re basically captive. At least until lowtaxland develops better broadband.
Re: the “proposed” (I use the term loosely because we ALL know they are going to be pushed through, as always) NJ Transit fare hikes, a very astute reader made the following keen observation on the APP.com website:
Lets see. One story says that NJT wants to spend $400 million for camera equipped buses. The next story says that NJT will require a fare increase because of a $60 million shortfall. Here’s a suggestion. Buy only $340 million in new buses. Case closed, budget balanced.
Posted by: Marlboro Man on Tue Jan 23, 2007 12:56 pm
Seriously, what is the point of increasing NJT train service when they are all going to be stuck in the bottle neck behind the Amtrak trains anyway? It’s highly questionable that the money is really put to good use.