Efforts to get the state to nix plans for a NJ Transit fare hike and a cut in some bus routes, including one that ferries passengers between Princeton and the University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro, are focused on state legislators as the June 30 budget deadline nears.
New Jersey For Transit, a coalition of 18 members, testified last week at a meeting of NJ Transit’s Board of Directors urging the agency and the government to come up with an alternative to the nine percent fare hike and the discontinuing of some routes. NJ Transit has proposed the changes to make up for a funding shortfall of approximately $60 million. If approved, the service cuts would go into effect in September and fares would rise October 1.
“We’re about to deliver a letter to Senate President Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Prieto,” said Doug O’Malley, director of Environment New Jersey, on Monday. “Because the final decision will be made in the next few weeks in Trenton on whether the government will fund NJ Transit in a way that doesn’t lead to hikes and cuts.”
But according to information from the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, which is one of the groups in the coalition, the official request to move forward with the fare hikes and service cuts was sent to NJ Transit’s Board Administration Committee for consideration at the committee meeting scheduled for yesterday afternoon (June 16). If approved, it will then be sent to the full NJ Transit Board of Directors for final approval at the agency’s July 15 board meeting.
NJ Transit introduced the proposal in April. The agency maintains that the service cuts and fare hikes are necessary to keep up with rising costs including employee healthcare and other benefits. The proposed state contribution to NJ Transit for fiscal year 2016 is currently $33 million, trimmed from $40.3 million. That subsidy was $73 million during each of the prior two fiscal years. It was as high as $278 million in 2005.
The budget includes money taken from the Clean Energy Fund and $295 million from the Turnpike Authority, which was supposed to be for the cancelled ARC tunnel under the Hudson River. Coalition members say the service cuts and fare hikes are a result of the state’s failing system for funding public transportation. The Transportation Trust Fund, which is for transportation capital projects, is bankrupt.
Following nine hearings throughout the state, the public comment period on the plan closed May 21. At a hearing at the Trenton Transit Center on that day, local lawmakers including Mayor Liz Lempert urged NJ Transit officials not to cut the 655 bus route between Princeton and the hospital in Plainsboro because it would eliminate access to healthcare services for low income residents without other transportation.
Others protesting the proposal say the elimination of the 655 and other lines will cause unnecessary hardship while saving NJ Transit an insignificant amount. “The thing that’s absolutely mind-blowing about the proposed service cuts is that these cuts, including the 655, are the definition of being pound foolish and penny wise,” Mr. O’Malley said. “They will only result in savings of $2.5 million. But the affected communities desperately need those lines. The 655 is still relatively new, and we’ve seen a transit route increase ridership over the years. Give it a chance.”
The proposed fare hike would make a trip between Princeton Junction and Penn Station New York rise from $16.50 to $17.75. The last rise in fares, made five years ago, was 22 percent.
The coalition of mass transit advocates has organized a petition campaign aimed at state legislators. Mr. O’Malley hopes the public outcry over the plan will get government representatives to take action. “The public uproar has really resonated with the legislators, so I do think there is a chance they will listen to the public and roll back these fare hikes and services without raising dedicated funds,” he said.