Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla, who is also seeking the Democratic nomination for Congress in the 8th District, is calling on Gov. Phil Murphy (D) to veto NJ Transit’s adoption of 15 percent fare hikes, which would take effect on July 1st without any further action.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“It is absolutely imperative that Governor Murphy use his authority, like he has done in the past, to veto the adoption of New Jersey Transit’s unconscionable 15% transit fare hikes,” Bhalla said in a statement.
“It makes absolutely zero sense to greenlight a double-digit fare increase when the governor and legislature are actively considering the adoption of a corporate business tax from multi-million-dollar corporations – one that the governor himself indicated could generate a large portion of the revenue needed by NJ Transit. It is imperative for the governor and legislature to veto these hikes, adopt the corporate business tax, and use the funding from the tax to protect middle class and lower income New Jerseyans from these devastating increases.”
Bhalla attended last week’s NJ Transit Board of Directors hearing in Newark speaking out against the fare hikes, as he also did at a public hearing in Secaucus last month.
The mayor also pointed out that the NJ Transit budget approved last Wednesday includes a 3 percent fare hike in perpetuity, which is a 30 percent increase in six years.
In October, Murphy vetoed the proposed 2024 budget and toll increase by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority and Bhalla is hopeful he will follow suit here.
The governor’s office has not yet said what he plans to do as of this morning, though he has previously said the increases were necessary to prevent eliminating services.
Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, a Democratic candidate for governor, Ward E Councilman James Solomon, and Hudson County Commissioner Bill O’Dea (D-2), a Jersey City mayoral candidate, came out against the fare hikes shortly after they were proposed.
