Maddie Hanna, Inquirer Trenton Bureau
Last updated: Friday, April 3, 2015, 1:07 AM
Posted: Thursday, April 2, 2015, 7:03 PM
New Jersey’s transit agency is considering a fare hike to fill a revenue shortfall, its director told lawmakers Thursday.
NJ Transit officials said they expected to propose a fare increase by the end of April, in light of a $60 million gap in next year’s operating budget.
Testifying before the Senate Budget Committee, executive director Veronique Hakim did not specify how much the agency might raise fares.
But given the size of its last fare increase in 2010 – which averaged 22 percent – “any proposal we put on the table would have to be substantially less than that to be palatable,” Hakim said.
A proposed fare hike would be subject to “robust” public comment, she said.
A spokesman for the agency, William Smith, said later Thursday that the agency “would attempt to keep any increase in the single digits.”