(The following article by Joe Malinconico was posted on the Newark Star-Ledger’s website on August 1.)
NEWARK, N.J. — NJ Transit yesterday approved a $1.3 billion budget, which continues the practice of using money borrowed to pay for major construction projects to cover operating expenses.
The operating budget relies on $360 million from the state transportation trust fund, which is supposed to pay for major construction work and long-term projects.
“We need to get out of this long-term reliance on the capital budget for help,” said NJ Transit board member John McGoldrick.
The budget practice limits the agency’s ability to expand, said NJ Transit Executive Director George Warrington.
But over the past decade, state transit officials routinely raided the trust fund to cover gaps in the operating budget so they would not have to raise fares.
This year’s budget projects a drop in ridership, which officials attributed to lingering shifts in commuting patterns after 9/11. Officials expect to collect about $9.9 million less in train and bus fares.
Meanwhile, the budget also includes money for this fall’s opening of the massive new Secaucus transfer station, a $550 million project that official say will transform rail travel in New Jersey.
The Secaucus station will allow riders to make transfers among the state’s 10 main rail lines. Once it opens, for example, a rider will be able to take a Northeast Corridor train from New Brunswick to Secaucus and then transfer to a Morris and Essex train to Morristown.
NJ Transit will open the Secaucus Transfer for weekend service Sept. 6, partly to give the agency and its customers a chance to work out the kinks before regular weekday operation kicks in at the end of the year.
Weekend trains on the various rail lines will stop at the Secaucus station at hourly intervals.
The station will not have parking and mainly will be accessible only through rail.