Wildwood's tram car price up to $4 thanks to minimum wage hike

"Please watch the tram car" is the most heard sound on the Wildwood boardwalk. Now that the minimum wage has gone up a dollar to $11 per hour, the Wildwood Boardwalk Special Improvement District, a nonprofit which operates the yellow trams, has taken the ride price from 50 cents to $4 per ride.

North Wildwood Mayor and director of the Wildwood Boardwalk Special Improvement District Patrick Rosenello tells the Press Of Atlantic City:

"Those (minimum wage) increases will cost the nonprofit about $50,000 per year in additional salary payouts, or $250,000 by the time it hits $15 per hour."

The price could go up again once the minimum wage hits the eventual goal of $15 per hour.

“What we don’t want to do is have a fare hike every single year,” Rosenello said. “Our goal is to be able to keep this fare for a number of years. But as we get closer to the $15 per hour, we will have to look at it again.”

Despite the reason, 50 cents to $4 is quite a jump. I'm not sure how many couples are going to shell out 8 dollars to ride the tram car or families spending upwards of 12. They say the fare hike will bring in about 60,000 per year. That's only if people are willing to spend the money. If not, you may be "watching the tram car" in the Wildwood museum.