(The following article by Joe Malinconico was posted on the Newark Star-Ledger website on February 14.)
NEWARK, N.J. — The last time NJ Transit raised bus and train fares, the process was an all-out sprint.
The agency angered commuters and watchdog groups by squeezing six public hearings into one night in January 2002, just three weeks after announcing the plan. Officials then rushed the overnight production of the hearing transcripts so the board could vote on the 10 percent increase five days later.
The mad dash ensured that Donald DiFrancesco would sign off on the hike on his last day as acting governor, sparing incoming Gov. James E. McGreevey from taking any heat.
This year, the pace is far less frantic as NJ Transit moves forward on a proposed 15 percent average increase in fares.
Starting tomorrow night, NJ Transit will hold 13 public hearings in the next two weeks. Officials say they will spend March mulling public input before voting on raising fares in April.
“The number of sessions, the locations of the sessions, the times of the sessions — it’s all a far superior effort than in 2002,” said Doug Bowen, president of the New Jersey Association of Railroad Passengers, a riders’ advocacy group. “This is what a public corporation should be doing.”
NJ Transit says it needs revenue from the fare increase to cover a $60 million shortfall in its upcoming budget.
Chances are, NJ Transit’s 375,000 daily rail and bus customers will have plenty to say about the proposed increase, especially after a series of service breakdowns stalled hundreds of rush-hour trains in January.
In fact, last month was NJ Transit’s worst on the rails since January 1996, when a massive blizzard hit the state. The agency reported that 11.1 percent of its trains arrived more than six minutes late last month, the only time that figure has topped double digits since the winter storm nine years ago.
NJ Transit officials said they regrouped over the first 10 days of February, when more than 93 percent of the trains ran on time.
“We’re hoping our customers look at the solid service we provide overall when we achieved over 90 percent on-time performance and not base their opinions on what happened after the storm this January,” said NJ Transit spokeswoman Penny Bassett Hackett.
While rail commuters struggled in January, bus riders experienced fewer disruptions. The agency’s monthly reports show the buses actually ran more reliably this January than for most months during the past two years, with 90.2 percent of them leaving the Port Authority terminal in Manhattan on time.
Under the fare proposal, monthly tickets for light rail lines and bus routes within New Jersey would not go up. Riders on commuter rail and interstate buses, meanwhile, would face an average hike of 13.3 percent.
But NJ Transit is considering cutting in half its off-peak discount, a move that would result in fare increases reaching 30 percent for many trips.
Rail activists have made the elimination of the off-peak discount a main target in criticisms.
“We strongly object to this proposal as not only unfair, but also exceedingly ill-advised and counterproductive,” said David Peter Alan, chairman of the Lackawana Coalition, a riders group.
Alan warned that the loss of the discount would prompt some off-peak riders may to switch to their cars or to already-crowded rush-hour trains.
In 2002, NJ Transit also had planned to cut the off-peak discount as part of the fare hike, but backed off after strong public opposition.
All indications are that NJ Transit again will revise its fare plan after the hearings, especially considering the position taken by acting Gov. Richard Codey, who has veto power over the proposal.
“The governor thinks that 15 percent seems very high,” said Codey’s spokesman, Kelley Heck. “He’s asked them to reduce it.”
Transit experts said they expect the agency ultimately will produce a fare hike of less than 10 percent, particularly because of the symbolism of a double-digit increase.
“Let no one think that these are perfunctory hearings,” said NJ Transit spokesman Dan Stessel. “We fully expect the fare proposal is going to change based on the feedback, the suggestions and the questions from our customers.”