NJ Transit fare hikes could become official Wednesday

A proposal by New Jersey Transit to raise fares on buses and trains an average of 9 percent could be officially adopted by agency officials Wednesday.

The plan also includes eliminating some trains on the Pascack Valley and Montclair-Boonton lines, and cutting bus service between Freehold and Philadelphia to Great Adventure and eliminating service between Princeton and Plainsboro.

Some route segments would also be discontinued on the Camden-Pennsauken and Burlington bus line and between Morristown and Route 10. The agency insists the fare hikes and service cuts are needed to close a multi-million dollar budget gap.

State Sen. Jennifer Beck (R-Redbank) described the situation as really disappointing.

"This goes directly against what we're trying to do in the Garden State," she said, "We want people off the road and on trains and people will just stop taking the train. You may see more people decide to drive and that's not really what we want, we have plenty of cars on the road and we're looking to get people off the road."

Beck also said New Jerseyans "live in a high cost state," where every penny counts.

"This will absolutely impact their wallet. I mean a 9 percent increase coming just years after a 25 percent increase isn't tolerable for most of our commuters," she said.

Phyllis Salowe-Kaye, the executive director of New Jersey Citizen Action agreed.

"It's outrageous," she said. "It's an exorbitant amount of money, it's another way to put a tax so to speak on New Jersey's working families."

Beck said this kind of increase will make it harder for some parents to provide essentials for family members.

"It could mean a coat for a kid, it could affect the groceries for the month," she said. "It can be a significant amount of money."

A spokesperson for New Jersey Transit declined a request for an interview to address the fare increase proposal.