(The following story by Jonathan Tamari appeared on the Courier-Post website on April 5.)
CHERRY HILL, N.J. — Department of Transportation Commissioner Kris Kolluri defended a planned 9.6 percent fare increase on NJ Transit Wednesday, saying more money is needed to meet growing demands by bus and rail passengers.
The higher fares would cost riders $60 million in order to close an NJ Transit budget gap. It would be the third rate hike since 2002, although Kolluri said there had been no increases in the 12 years before then.
“There’s no doubt that nobody likes paying for an increased fare, I understand that,” Kolluri said in a hearing before the Senate budget committee, but “these fare increases are necessary and they pay for the services that we provide the customers.”
Kolluri said service demands are growing by 6 percent per year.
At a recent public hearing in Toms River, however, commuters said NJ Transit should instead cut executive salaries or improve services before it raises fares.
Under the new fare plan, a one-way train ticket from Red Bank to New York would rise from $10.75 to $11.75. A bus trip from Cherry Hill to Philadelphia that now costs $2.80 would go up to $3.10.
Kolluri said a vote on the increase is expected April 13 or 14.
Kolluri also said he expects to deliver a recommendation within five weeks to Gov. Jon S. Corzine on his study of how, and whether, to use New Jersey assets for a cash infusion. Kolluri and Treasurer Bradley Abelow have been looking at how to leverage assets, including the state’s toll roads, into a lease deal or other arrangement that could generate a funding boost to help either pay down debts or invest in capital projects.
Kolluri assured senators the Legislature would have a say on any proposal.
“I can’t imagine us doing anything without the Legislature being a participant,” Kolluri said.
Some lawmakers who oppose any deal that would give up a stake in the toll roads have cautioned that plans in other states have been rushed through with little scrutiny.
Kolluri also touted his department’s $3.3 billion construction plan for the coming fiscal year, about half of which is funded with federal dollars. The program, Kolluri said, will boost work on NJ Transit projects to $1.3 billion.
An additional $2 billion will be allocated to highway projects.
Sen. Stephen M. Sweeney, D-West Deptford, objected to a DOT formula that uses population as a key factor in determining how much transportation money gets spent in each region of the state. Sweeney argued that despite a smaller population in South Jersey, bad roads are bad roads.
“If it’s based on population, we’re being discriminated against,” said Sweeney, who is also the Gloucester County freeholder-director.
Transportation officials said the four New Jersey counties surrounding Philadelphia have roughly 22 percent of the state’s population and typically receive 18 to 24 percent of state transportation funding.