By Larry Higgs | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
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on April 14, 2015 at 12:33 PM, updated April 15, 2015 at 7:31 AM
Commuters could be hit with an NJ Transit fare increase that might reach 9 percent in fiscal year 2016, based on budget documents for the coming year.
NJ Transit’s budget documents said revenue from fares would increase by 8.8 percent, from the $928.6 million earned in fiscal year 2015 to $1.01 billion in 2016, according to an Office of Legislative Services’ review of NJ Transit’s financials.
“It is not clear whether this increase in fare box revenue reflects a possible fare increase or whether this represents estimated (ridership) growth before the impacts of a possible fare increase,” said the OLS analysis.
But that growth is unlikely to come from ridership. Total NJ Transit ridership only grew by two percent between Jan. 2014 and Jan. 2015 to 270 million passenger trips, according to the last agency ridership report. That is the highest ridership since fiscal year 2009.
NJ Transit Executive Director Veronique Hakim said if the agency decides to raise fares, a package of increases and service reductions would be announced by the end of the month. Hakim also said she wants to limit a fare hike to a single digit increase after fares raised by 22 percent in 2010.
