(The Associated Press circulated the following story on April 19.)
NEWARK, N.J. — The board of NJ Transit yesterday approved a fare hike of nearly 10 percent, with varying increases for different rail and bus lines.
The fare increase, the first since July 2005, will begin on June 1 and close a deficit of about $60 million in the agency’s $1.5 billion budget, also approved yesterday.
The fare hike is the third since 1990.
The new fare plan is expected to generate enough money to close the deficit over 13 months.
“Raising fares is always an option of last resort, but it is fiscally prudent to ensure we have a balanced budget that avoids service cuts at a time when we are experiencing record ridership,” state Transportation Commissioner and NJ Transit board chairman Kris Kolluri said.
The news did not make commuters happy.
“That’s quite a bit,” said Samanta Mehta, 32, as she rode a train out of Penn Station in New York to Metropark. She said she hoped the increase would help ensure that trains ran on time, especially in the evenings, when she rides home.
NJ Transit spokesman Dan Stessel said the agency had received 2,155 comments, via e-mail and regular mail, about the proposed increase.
NJ Transit is the nation’s largest statewide public transportation system, providing nearly 857,000 weekday trips on bus routes and on light-rail and commuter-rail lines. Systemwide ridership is up 4.6 percent so far this fiscal year, the third year of record-high levels.
Among the changes:
A 9.9 percent increase will be imposed for rail and interstate bus customers who ride from New Jersey to New York or Philadelphia or take longer-distance buses between suburbs and urban areas.
A one-way ticket from Trenton to New York City will increase from $11.50 to $12.50, and the monthly pass will increase from $320 to $352.
Fares on local bus routes will increase 9.9 percent; base one-zone rides will increase from $1.25 to $1.35, and base one-zone passes will increase from $45 to $49 in northern New Jersey and from $41 to $45 in southern New Jersey.
Fares for the New York-Meadowlands Sports Complex bus purchased on board will increase from $5 to $6, and fares purchased from ticket windows or vending machines will increase from $4.50 to $5.
The morning peak period will begin 30 minutes later, at 7 a.m. Trains that currently arrive at the final destination between 6:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. are considered peak fares and cost more.