No fare hikes on NJ Transit in 2022, Gov. Murphy says
GLEN RIDGE, N.J. -- There's good news for NJ Transit riders: no fare increases in 2022.
The pandemic has been tough on people's wallets. So, this announcement was welcome news, CBS2's Leah Mishkin reported.
"They will not see a fare hike again in 2022 and at least through the first half of 2023," Gov. Phil Murphy said.
Murphy said his upcoming budget will include funding to add Wi-Fi on all NJ Transit buses. The question is, how are they footing the bill?
"We'll present the budget a week from tomorrow and it'll be clear in terms of how all of this fits together," Murphy said.
"Transit fares make up a majority of the operating budget. How is New Jersey Transit going to capture that pre-COVID ridership number?" said Janna Chernetz, of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign.
NJ Transit President and CEO Kevin Corbett says ridership took a hit with Omicron, but it's been climbing back. It's now around 50 percent on average, systemwide.
It's still unclear what commuting patterns will look like once more offices reopen. But Corbett says they have something going for them that many other transit agencies don't have yet.
"With the governor's budget, when he supported us, we're maintaining a full schedule. We have the reliability," Corbett said.
"In January, NJ Transit rail complied a 93 percent on-time rating," Murphy said. "Additionally, NJ Transit buses ran 95.5 percent on time."
Since 2018, NJ Transit has added more than 300 new buses, bought 138 new multi-level rail cars and eight new locomotives.
Chernetz hopes the customer advocate position, which is vacant, gets filled soon. She said it'll be critical to making sure commuters' voices are heard as more get back onboard.