Hiked

Mrs. Lawhawk alerted me to the fact that New Jersey Transit has approved a 9.6% fare increase. The NJ Transit press release is here.

The NJ Transit officials love to claim that they didn't have any other options except to raise fares. Oh really? How about reducing spending and improving efficiencies? That doesn't appear to be a consideration.

What about dealing with the Secaucus Boondoggle that costs millions to operate each year and is underutilized - and will be rendered irrelevent if the state and federal authorities go forward with the ARC plan that would create one-ride plans into Midtown Manhattan for the Bergen/Main and Pascack Valley lines? That's not addressed either.

Consider that instead of building a basic facility to permit riders to switch between the rail lines in Secaucus, NJ Transit embarked upon a gold-plated version that sees far fewer riders and doesn't even permit commuters to park and ride into Manhattan. That's millions of dollars spent every year on debt repayment that could otherwise go to improving actual service conditions and improving the bus and rail fleet.

What does this mean for me personally? Well, my fare will increase and it will become that much more attractive to drive into Manhattan instead of taking mass transit. The price differential between driving and parking in Manhattan will narrow and the convenience of driving on your own schedule will mean that other commuters may make similar decisions. Instead of making mass transit a preferred choice, the fare hikes do nothing but force people to reconsider the environmentally friendly option.