For Third Year NJ Transit Budget Holds Fares Steady
July 12, 2012
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, New Jersey Transit’s Board approved a $1.904 billion operating budget and a $1.152 billion capital program for the fiscal year that started July 1.Transit (NJT) approved a Fiscal Year 2013 operating budget and capital program will keep fares steady for a third year in a row .
Almost half of the capital budget comes from the Transportation Trust Fund, with the balance coming from federal and other sources.
NJ Transit officials are also reconsidering the very unpopular 2-year-old decision of May 2010 that ended off peak discounts for weekend rail passengers and other off-peak hours. This decision was coupled with an average fare hike of 22 percent ,led off-peak riders to pay nearly 50 percent more and in come cases 64 percent more. According to NJT officials nearly 20,000 NJ Transit customers a day or 17 percent of rail customers use round-trip tickets during off-peak hours, Sources claim that off-peak ridership has risen about 2 percent since the fare increases , while overall rail ridership is down almost 2 percent during that same period.
In a cost-cutting move, the board adjusted service on six bus routes and discontinued four others with low ridership.The bus reorganization will save NJ Transit $2.5 million. NJT plans to reinvest $1 million of it into new projects, including 24-hour bus service between Newark Penn Station, Newark Liberty International Airport and Elizabeth.
The $1.15 billion capital program, supports fleet modernization efforts for NJT buses , including the purchase of more than 1,400 new buses, more than 400 multilevel rail cars and 50 electric and dual-power locomotives.