NJ Transit held a public hearing about their proposed 15 percent fare hikes at the Frank R. Lautenberg Station in Secaucus, the only one out of 10 held in Hudson County, this morning.
By Daniel Ulloa and John Heinis/Hudson County View
“This is a proposal only,” NJ Transit Chief Compliance Officer Chris Iu, who also served as the hearing officer today, said about the first proposed fare increase since 2015.
The proposal came out in January and was panned by elected officials in Jersey City and Hoboken.
In a video presentation, NJ Transit defended the possible hikes by noting that private bus services will cost $30 million, that ridership remains will below pre-COVID-19 levels – causing a loss of $2 billion in projective revenue, and that inflation has risen 30 percent since 2015.
They also claimed that healthcare costs have gone up 47 percent in the past nine years.
To fill the projected budget, they will increase fare enforcement, feature more advertising, discontinue the flex pass, and make tickets expire after 30 days – but that still leaves the agency a $106.6 million deficit the grapple with.
If their board approves the upcoming budget, the fare hikes with have annual increases of three percent in perpetuity, beginning next year.
Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla, an 8th District congressional candidate, was the only elected official who spoke during the proceedings, which were scheduled to run from 10 a.m. until 12 noon but no one spoke for at least the final half hour.
“The rate hike will hit Black and brown communities especially hard, many of whom depend on mass transit as owning a car isn’t always financially feasible. We should not be balancing the books of New Jersey Transit on these working-class residents,” he said.
“Should this hike, compounded with periods of unreliable service, go into effect … more residents will choose the option of driving to and from their destination. We need to be redoubling our efforts to curb carbon emissions so New Jersey can meet its climate change goals. This proposal would set us back. Every dollar spent on public transportation generates $4 in economic returns.”
He also noted that the possibility of hikes to be up 30 percent in six years due to the annual 3 percent increases after this year “is simply unacceptable” and said he felt these hearing should have at least been livestreamed.
Frank “The Tank” Fleming, of Barstool Sports fame, noted that many NJ Transit trains are old and also asserted that Newark Penn Station in Newark is falling apart.
“The corporate executives have built themselves a $400 million building next door* You’re asking us to pay for your parking at $44,000 a month! There’s your budget! You’re asking us to pay you more!” he exclaimed.
” … I got advice: you want $44,000 to park in Newark, how bout this, how bout you take New Jersey Transit and see what it’s like!”
Fleming added the system as a whole is completely unreliable, also chiding the group for having no Wi-Fi on the trains.
“NJ Transit commuters already pay the nation’s highest fares. Now we’re asking to pay 15 percent more and 3 percent more after that. Forever? It’s just too much,” Corey Hannigan, of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, said.
“When I was finishing my degree at Rutgers, the round trip cost me $28 a day. This new increase would cost $32. Is one week of in-person meetings really enough to hear from the public on this forever fare increase?”
Hannigan noted that if Gov. Phil Murphy (D) brings back the Corporate Business Tax as he said he would, that would be enough to fill the gap without necessitating a fare hike.
“The governor should cancel the plans to widen the NJ Turnpike,” he said about the $10.7 billion project to applause.
Local safe streets advocates spoke at the hearing to express their dissatisfaction with the proposal in front of the NJ Transit board.
“Raising fares while simultaneously spending $24 billion on NJ highway widenings is unacceptable. While we appreciate the plan for the return of the CBT, we need significant strategic investment in NJ Transit coupled with a halt to highway expansion,” Hudson County Complete Streets Executive Director Emmanuelle Morgen.
“In short, we need to reallocate funding from toxic greenhouse-gas emitting turnpike projects to mass transit now in order to address our utter dependency on cars and to provide equity, safety, health, and economic vitality to our communities.”
Safe StreetsJC President Talya Schwartz spoke after Morgen, who indicated she’s a regular bus rider of Bus Nos. 9 and 80, and echoed a similar sentiment.
“The state funds NJ Transit as an afterthought, even though for many people it’s the only way to get to their family, doctors, employment, and school. Maybe the execs who dreamed this up, feel like it’s not a significant amount of money. But for many people it is,” she stated.
“And those people are not here, because they have to work, they don’t have the privilege of showing up at a 10:00 am hearing. Even without fare increases, the cost of transit makes it difficult to access for students and low-income New Jerseyans. Implementing a fair fares program modeled after the MTA’s by NJ Transit could significantly improve equity in public transportation. We should be making transit cheaper not more expensive.”
While he Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen union did not have anyone speak, they handed out a flyer that was critial of NJ Transit’s new $54 million headquarters.
NJ Transit board members Aaron Cruz, Murphy’s appointee, and Karen Thomas quietly took notes as the public spoke.
At the end of the meeting, Greg Waltman, a Hudson County resident who commutes to New Brunswick, approached them to discuss the matter, prompting an NJ Transit police officer to walk over. Ultimately, the situation proceeded without incident.
Iu told HCV that the legislature mandated that half the hearings be held in the morning and that they could not answer questions.
The public comment period ends tonight at midnight, with the final session being held at their board room at One Penn Plaza East from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m.
