New Jersey Transit Board Approves Fare Increase and Service Changes
After three months of hearing objections from commuters and transit advocates, the board of New Jersey Transit on Wednesday unanimously approved a fare increase and service changes just as they were proposed in April.
At the board’s meeting in Newark, about 20 speakers argued that service had been deteriorating and did not warrant a price increase. Several blamed Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican, for failing to find a solution to the state’s depleted transit fund.
But the board members countered that the only alternatives to raising the fares were severe layoffs and reductions in service.
“There was no good choice here,” Bruce Meisel, the vice chairman of the board, said. “We had to pick among the best of unpleasant choices. None of us is jumping for joy here.”
Just as the board was hearing another round of complaints about the increase, President Obama on Wednesday morning interceded in a labor dispute between the transit agency and its unionized engineers. The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen had threatened to strike as soon as Thursday unless the president appointed a panel to help resolve their contract differences.
By executive order, Mr. Obama appointed three women to an emergency board that will have 30 days to try to settle the dispute. In a statement, the agency said it would take steps “to ensure that there will not be a disruption in service.”
One of the speakers at the agency’s board meeting, Jeff Tittel, director of the Sierra Club of New Jersey, implored the members not to be “bobbleheads” and simply approve what was proposed. Mr. Tittel said charging more for less would drive some commuters off buses and trains and into their cars, a switch that would add to congestion and pollution.
Mr. Meisel rebutted the characterization, saying “none of us got here by being anybody’s rubber stamp.” He said no politician had called him from Trenton telling him how he should vote. He added that he would have liked “to be a hero and vote no” but that that would not have been “the right thing” to do.
The agency bucked the traditional process of raising fares, akin to Kabuki theater, beginning with proposing a higher increase then scaling it back after taking public testimony. Veronique Hakim, the executive director of the agency, decided to lay out the agency’s true needs from the start, a spokeswoman said.
“As transit professionals, we owed our customers and stakeholders a good-faith effort to present them a solid plan that had the least impact on our riders,” Ms. Hakim said. “After much hard work, I am confident we delivered on that.”
In the last five years, the commuters who have taken the biggest financial hit have been those who ride trains during off-peak hours. Along with a fare increase in 2010, the agency eliminated a discount it had given to off-peak passengers.
That change, combined with the increase approved on Wednesday, means that somebody who rode a midday train to New York from New Brunswick paid $17.75 round-trip then and would pay $28 for the same trip this fall — or 58 percent more.
Janna Chernetz, senior New Jersey policy analyst for the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, said a fare increase would not have been necessary if Mr. Christie had provided the agency with a dedicated source of funding for operations.
“That’s the problem,” Ms. Chernetz said. “We don’t know what’s going to happen in 2017.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/16/n...-fare-increases-and-service-changes.html?_r=0
After three months of hearing objections from commuters and transit advocates, the board of New Jersey Transit on Wednesday unanimously approved a fare increase and service changes just as they were proposed in April.
Fares on the agency’s network of trains, buses and trolleys will rise about 9 percent, on average, in October. The increase will add up to $40 to the price of a monthly pass for some commuters who ride trains to Pennsylvania Station in Manhattan.
At the board’s meeting in Newark, about 20 speakers argued that service had been deteriorating and did not warrant a price increase. Several blamed Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican, for failing to find a solution to the state’s depleted transit fund.
But the board members countered that the only alternatives to raising the fares were severe layoffs and reductions in service.
“There was no good choice here,” Bruce Meisel, the vice chairman of the board, said. “We had to pick among the best of unpleasant choices. None of us is jumping for joy here.”
Just as the board was hearing another round of complaints about the increase, President Obama on Wednesday morning interceded in a labor dispute between the transit agency and its unionized engineers. The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen had threatened to strike as soon as Thursday unless the president appointed a panel to help resolve their contract differences.
By executive order, Mr. Obama appointed three women to an emergency board that will have 30 days to try to settle the dispute. In a statement, the agency said it would take steps “to ensure that there will not be a disruption in service.”
One of the speakers at the agency’s board meeting, Jeff Tittel, director of the Sierra Club of New Jersey, implored the members not to be “bobbleheads” and simply approve what was proposed. Mr. Tittel said charging more for less would drive some commuters off buses and trains and into their cars, a switch that would add to congestion and pollution.
Mr. Meisel rebutted the characterization, saying “none of us got here by being anybody’s rubber stamp.” He said no politician had called him from Trenton telling him how he should vote. He added that he would have liked “to be a hero and vote no” but that that would not have been “the right thing” to do.
The agency bucked the traditional process of raising fares, akin to Kabuki theater, beginning with proposing a higher increase then scaling it back after taking public testimony. Veronique Hakim, the executive director of the agency, decided to lay out the agency’s true needs from the start, a spokeswoman said.
“As transit professionals, we owed our customers and stakeholders a good-faith effort to present them a solid plan that had the least impact on our riders,” Ms. Hakim said. “After much hard work, I am confident we delivered on that.”
The plan involves the elimination of some bus routes and some late train service. But all of the agency’s customers will be affected by the fare increase, the first since fares were raised about 22 percent in 2010.
In the last five years, the commuters who have taken the biggest financial hit have been those who ride trains during off-peak hours. Along with a fare increase in 2010, the agency eliminated a discount it had given to off-peak passengers.
That change, combined with the increase approved on Wednesday, means that somebody who rode a midday train to New York from New Brunswick paid $17.75 round-trip then and would pay $28 for the same trip this fall — or 58 percent more.
Janna Chernetz, senior New Jersey policy analyst for the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, said a fare increase would not have been necessary if Mr. Christie had provided the agency with a dedicated source of funding for operations.
The state’s direct subsidy has shrunk during the governor’s time in office, to $33 million from nearly $300 million a year, she said. To plug that gap, Mr. Christie sent the agency $295 million in highway tolls that had been earmarked for a rail tunnel under the Hudson River that he canceled in 2010. But that diversion will end after this year, she said.
“That’s the problem,” Ms. Chernetz said. “We don’t know what’s going to happen in 2017.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/16/n...-fare-increases-and-service-changes.html?_r=0
