NJ Transit Fares Stay The Same – Good News for Commuters

Today, Governor Murphy announced that his FY2021 budget proposal will not include a fare hike for NJ Transit. This is the fifth year that NJ Transit has not had a fare increase.  Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, released the following statement:

“We are glad that NJ Transit will not be increasing their fares this year. This is good news for commuters. This is important because they cannot and should not balance the budget on the back of NJ Transit riders. Rate hikes unfairly hurt seniors, young people, and the working poor the most. New Jersey commuters pay the most in the nation when it comes to contributing for their share of operation and maintenance. NJ Transit is still robbing capital funds that should be going to improve and expand NJ Transit for operations and maintenance, $460 million this year alone. This is like robbing our future to pay for current expenses, or taking a second mortgage on a house to buy groceries. New Jersey needs a dedicated source of funding for operations and maintenance so we can decrease fares and improve ridership.”

“This is the fifth year that we haven’t seen a fare increase, but keeping fares stable is not enough. We are in a state of climate urgency and we need immediate action to help protect our air. Transit agencies in other states are actually cutting or eliminating fares to encourage ridership. If we reduce and eliminate fares, it would get more people out of cars and would reduce pollution. New Jersey has some of the worst air quality in the nation. NJ Transit needs a stable source of funding for operations and maintenance to lower fares and improve ridership, because next year the fares could go up. They should be helping get cars off the road and making our air cleaner.”