The Office of the Rate Counsel would have a say next time NJ Transit proposes raising fares under a bill that cleared a Senate panel this morning.
State Sen. Linda Greenstein (D-Middlesex) said many commuters complained to her that they were not prepared for NJ Transit’s fare increases last year, which averaged 22 percent system-wide.
“The decision to increase the fares was done in a two month time frame which for commuters who work long hours didn’t provide adequate time,” she said.

Read the full story on NJ.com

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• Plan To Privatize NJ Transit Parking Lots On The Table (newyork.cbslocal.com)

A grassroots campaign is apparently afoot to boycott NJ Transit starting May 1 in protest of the train fare hikes.

ATTENTION ALL NJ TRANSIT RIDERS! On May 1, 2010, NJ TRANSIT will be raising ticket prices by 25%. This means if your one way ticket was $5.00 it will now be $6.25. They will no longer sell off peak round trip tickets. In addition, they will cutting transit personnel by 1/3; taking away part of their pension; and not giving raises to the workers.
PLEASE JOIN US AS WE BOYCOTT NJ TRANSIT. During a time of economic instability we cannot afford these outrageous hikes. Please do not buy your tickets before May 1, 2010 and take alternative transit to work (ie: car pool, cab pool, the path train, decamp; lakeland buses; academy buses; Olympia Trails; etc) Let’s show NJ Transit that they need us to stay in service.

Source: Baristanet

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• New Jersey Transit Approves Increased Fares on Trains, Buses (businessweek.com)

Information about Fare and Service Changes

On April 14, 2010, the NJ TRANSIT Board of Directors approved a revised fare and service plan to help close the agency’s looming $300 million budget gap.  The revised fare plan reduces the systemwide fare increase to 22 percent and provides a fiscally sound and sustainable budget that continues high-quality service delivery.

Rail Fare Information

• Although rail fares will increase 25 percent effective May 1, deep monthly discounts will be maintained, as will discounts for seniors, students and children.
• Customers using weekly and monthly rail passes will continue to be able to make connections between trains and buses without additional cost.
• Train schedules will be adjusted to accommodate customers whose trains will be eliminated as part of the effort to match service with current demand.  Rail schedules will change May 23 on most lines.
• Discounted off-peak rail tickets will not be sold after April 30 and will not be accepted after May 23.

Light Rail Fare Information

Light rail fares will increase 10 percent.  The one-way ticket will increase from $1.35 to $1.50 on Newark Light Rail and River Line.  Hudson-Bergen Light Rail trips will increase from $1.90 to $2.10.

Bus Fare Information

On the bus side, interstate and commuter bus fares also will increase 25 percent. Discounted 10-trip bus tickets will continue to be offered, with discounts capped at 15 percent.  The Board also approved retaining service on several local bus routes in eight counties that had been proposed for elimination.  The restoration of bus services preserves associated Access Link paratransit services that shadow local bus routes.

The final fare plan that will take effect May 1 provides for a 10 percent increase for local bus and light rail riders – who make up 52% of NJ TRANSIT customers.

Fares for seniors, children 11 and under, and customers with disabilities will continue to be discounted 50 percent or more off regular one-way fares.

In addition, students who attend a college or university in our University Partnership program can receive up to 25 percent off their monthly pass.  Visit njtransit.com for details.

NJ TRANSIT customers can save up to $1,000 annually by taking advantage of commuter tax benefits through their employer.  (The federal government recently increased the pre-tax commuter benefit to $230 per month.)  For more information on how to save, visit www.njtransit.com/taxbenefits.

For more information about the fare and service plan, visit www.njtransit.com/budget.

NJ Transit bus and rail riders will pay more starting May 1.
The agency’s board voted today to increase fares and change bus and rail service. Rail and intercity bus fares will go up by 25 percent and certain discounts will be eliminated.
Local bus and light-rail riders will pay 10 percent more.

Read the full story in NJ.com

NJ Transit’s board of directors will decide whether to raise bus, train and light rail fares as much as 25 percent when it meets Wednesday.
NJ Transit staff and directors held 12 hearings and information sessions on the proposal. Hundreds of people attended, and almost 4,000 comments were received electronically and are now being reviewed.
The fare increase, scheduled for May 1, is part of a plan to address a $300 million shortfall in the agency’s 2010-11 budget. NJ Transit is also laying off 200 people, cutting executive pay and reducing 401(k) contributions.

Source: Record Online

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• N.J. Transit Says Fare Boost Possible by May as Deficit Grows (businessweek.com)

Desperation, anger, and fear were the dominant emotions during the first day of public hearings on New Jersey’s doomsday plan for transit. In Newark, Trenton, Manalapan, and Paterson, hundreds of commuters voiced their vehement opposition to the Christie administration’s proposed 25% fare hike and system-wide service cuts.

At NJ Transit Headquarters in Newark, even the lobby was standing room only. Packed into the modest board room, commuters shared stories of tight budgets and long commutes. Kimberly Eastwood, a single mom from Ocean Township, broke into tears as she described how the plan will slash her family budget.

Read the full story on TSTC

When a man on a ledge tells his partner that the only way they can escape disaster is to “jump off a cliff together,” it’s wise to question their reasoning.

When Butch made this suggestion in the movie, “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” everybody knew both these guys were train robbers trying to elude a posse.

When Governor Christie used this analogy to stump for his plan to avoid statewide fiscal ruin, he sounded like a political leader trying to spread the pain around to everybody — teachers, cops, commuters, etc.

Nobody seriously figured this Butch was thinking of holding up a train or a bus.

But to close NJ Transit’s looming $300 million deficit, commuter rail tickets are rising 25 percent, two trains are being eliminated on each of 11 lines, and 50 of 240 bus routes are being terminated.

On the administrative side, executive salaries are being cut 5 percent, the workforce is being reduced by 2 percent, and matches to 401(k) retirement accounts will be trimmed 33 percent. All this leaves an impossible equation that boils down to higher cost and less service.

“Shame on the governor!” shouted a student at Friday’s budget hearing in Paterson.

…

Note to Governor Butch: There’s a posse tracking you, and it includes thousands of persistent, middle-class people like Mark Klypka.

They favor your stand against soaring public employee pensions and other non-essential government spending. But they also know you’re on record in favor of restoring tax breaks for the wealthy. And they’re wondering how you can discourage mass transit in a state with some of the most crowded, crumbling highways in the nation.

They want a more consistent approach. For starters, shielding those with cars and government jobs is inconsistent with trimming transportation for those who are barely hanging on.

Read the full story on North Jersey

New Jersey Transit announced today that they will rethink their budget-cutting proposals, including the 25 percent fare hike, after listening to the public outcry at the 12 lively hearings last week. Winstina S. Hughes was at the Friday, March 26 hearing at the Secaucus Junction Station and reported back to The Local.

Under the proposal, fares would increase 25 percent statewide. Some train, bus and light rail services would be cut.

Maplewood, South Orange and Millburn residents should expect that the Morris and Essex line service would be reduced by seven trains on weekdays, four of which would be off-peak.

Commuters who purchase monthly passes would continue to receive a discount of 25 percent or more off full fares.

Off-peak train tickets would be eliminated. And the 10-trip bus discount would be capped at 15 percent off the full fare price.

“We realize this proposal is painful,” said Financial Officer Kim Vaccari at the hearing. “We are aggressively attempting to address issues.”

NJ Transit’s Board of Directors will take formal action on the proposal on April 4. Changes will take affect between May 1 and May 7. Public comments were recorded in writing and will be provided to the board during deliberations.

Source: NY Times

My name is Emily, and I am an ordinary resident of New Jersey. NJ Transit is a big part of my life. I use it regularly to commute to work. My reasons for using mass transit are both on practical grounds (rather sit in the train than in my car) and philosophical grounds (good for the environment and the roads). Despite its shortcomings, NJ Transit is one of the things I really appreciate about life in New Jersey.

So when I learned about the proposed fare hikes on NJ Transit, I got angry. I already commit a big chunk of my paycheck for mass transit, and the thought of paying any more (especially in a single-income household) is just unbearable. So with the help of my tech savvy husband, we created the site http://stopnjtransitfarehike.org. Thanks to you all for taking part.

This morning on my way to work, I decided to hand out mini-flyers about the propsed fare hikes to fellow commuters. It was a very encouraging experience. About 9 out of 10 people accepted the flyer, and about 6 out of 10 even thanked me for it. Of course, I genuinely thanked them in return.

Perhaps my favorite encounter was with a man who asked me about my role in this campaign. When I let him know that I was an independent volunteer, he responded with a bit of surprise and a big smile and said, “So this is really grassroots? Nice.”

Within 20 minutes total today (10 minutes on my way to work and 10 minutes on my way back), I was able to distribute over 100 mini-flyers, all by myself. I would have been able to distribute them in even less time if I could have maximized my time in the morning. After about 10 minutes in the station, a friendly police officer asked me if I had a permit to distribute the flyers. As I didn’t and was not aware of this policy, I stopped and headed to my train.

My convictions about organizing NJ Transit users and allies are all the more affirmed. We are not a hard group to reach out to, as we know where to find each other. And where we gather–on train platforms or at bus stations–we more than likely are waiting around and looking for something interesting to think about. So do us all a favor, and next time you find yourself in such company, ask your fellow commuter if they have heard about the fare hike, and ask them to take action.

At least we will know what will happen if we don’t try.

New Jersey Transit’s payroll rose more than $154 million from 2006 to 2009, when the agency paid a total of $804 million in salaries and wages.The payroll increase was up 24 percent between those years, about three times the rate of inflation. The consumer price index for New York-northern New Jersey rose just 7.3 percent from 2006 to the end of 2009.

Read the full story on APP.com