will first congestion pricing now fare hikes commuters in New Jersey say they can't catch a break after New Jersey Transit on Wednesday unveiled its new budget proposal which includes 15% Fair hikes for bus and train riders starting as early as this July if approved rates would also be bumped up by 3% every year after that for the foreseeable future The Proposal is the rail agency's last ditch effort to Stave off a $100 million budget hole without cutting Service as nearly $4 billion dollar in federal pandemic relief money dries up and ridership remains below pre-pandemic levels The Proposal would be the first Fair hike in nearly a decade but not if outraged commuters have their say senior correspondent Brenda Flanigan reports they need to help us instead of taking from us Fatima Kone commutes into New York on NJ Transit and slammed its proposed Fair hikes as unfair and unaffordable the agency said says it needs the money to fill a roughly hundred million budget hole in the next fiscal year but con told Advocates taking Rider surveys at Newark Penn Station it's always dirty it's not convenient and then raising the price on top of that that's ridiculous they are not happy they are not happy with the service that New Jersey Transit is providing right now and they are certainly not happy with a fair hike of 15% hear a proposal that does not put Riders on the chopping block a gaggle of progressive Advocates denounced NJ transit's plan to keep the wheels rolling with a 15% fare increase starting July first plus another 3% hike every year after the agency blames sagging ridership flagging revenues and lapsing pandemic Aid that will push it over a fiscal cliff in less than two years but what can Riders afford especially low income families that depend on NJ Transit these will have a huge impact in the community unities um that we serve on a daily basis this is a lot of money to ask Riders to pay especially at a time when New Jersey Transit is faced with a near billion dollar operating deficit by fiscal year 2026 the agency runs with a built in structural budget deficit so these fare hikes won't come close to closing its gaping budget Abyss this is also just a Band-Aid solution to a structural problem New Jersey transit's problem is that it has never had a dedicated funding source unlike several other agencies of similar size across the country what this does is just kick the can down the road no doubt NJ Transit and the Murphy Administration expected this Furious reaction it's entirely predictable lawmakers have watch this fiscal Crisis coming down the tracks for years and made political calculations but this budget will make it five straight years of no fair hikes from one budget to the next neither nether Murphy nor the legislators ever swallowed that poison political pill a sixth straight year of no fare hikes on NJ Transit but now the proposed fare hike soliciting strong protests from lawmakers Senate President Scutari said we simply cannot rely on everyday commuters to carry the burden of NJ transit's billion dollar deficit Senate minority leader Bucco predicted fare hikes will only make it harder for our already financially strapped Transit Riders to to make ends meet the governor vowed we will continue to pursue additional Avenues to respond to NJ transit's fiscal needs as for Solutions we call on the legislature and Governor Murphy to invest in public transit and reinstate the corporate business tax the governor let New Jersey's corporate business tax search charge expire January 1st citing a political promise to the business Community even though it could have raised a billion dollars a year lawmakers could also raise New Jersey sales tax back up to its 2016 level 7% but that wouldn't be popular either how much leverage will transits looming fiscal collapse exert on tax shy legislators the governor's office noted he's kept his promise to hold the line on fare increases until the agency improves Murphy told Financial analysts last week we have in many respects fixed NJ Transit through the customers lens reliability safety confidence on Time Performance but we now are going to have to tackle what is a growing fiscal Challenge and we're working on Solutions there NJ Transit plans 10 public hearings the first full week of March and expects to get a near full from its riders.
In Newark I'm Brenda Flanagan and NJ Spotlight news