Fare increases coming to NJ Transit starting Tuesday

💲A 3% fare increase takes effect on NJ Transit Tuesday

💲CEO Kris Kolluri says the increase will help with the reliability of the system

💲The MTA will delay its scheduled increase

NJ Transit’s 3% across-the-board fare increase takes effect Tuesday.

It's the first of the agency's annual fare increases approved by its Board of Directors that will not require public hearings.

Fares went up 15% a year ago as the system's first fare increase since 2015. The increase is a set percentage that affects rail, light rail and buses. The amount of the increase can be calculated at NJTransit.com or on their app.

While riders will grumble about the increase, NJ Transit President and CEO Kris Kolluri said fares are a steady source of income that is key to making ongoing improvements.

"In the long run, it's better to have a predictable fare system that improves reliability than an on-again, off-again system and then have a huge increase. That's what we've been used to. So we need a regular, predictable fee increase that focuses on reliability," Kolluri told New Jersey 101.5.

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MTA will delay the increase

Kolluri said that the increase will help cover the cost of modernizing NJ Transit's equipment, which in turn will help reliability in all kinds of weather.

"That means we have to order all new train cars and all new buses, which is what the board has done for rail cars, and we're about to do that for buses by the end of this year. That's how you ultimately get the system to be modern and not worry about heat or rain or snow. Right now, we still have equipment from the 1970s that still operate on the system," Kolluri said.

Kolluri has said there will be no separate fare increase to cover NJ Transit's contract settlement with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers.

A break for subway riders

In New York, the MTA is delaying its planned bi-yearly fare increase because it focused on implementing its new OMNY payment system and will not have time to hold the required public hearings, MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said after the board's meeting on Wednesday

"Because of the nature of the public process ... it cannot and won't be in August. But we're going to initiate the public process, and it will happen, in all probability, sometime later in the year," Lieber said.

He did not commit to an amount for the increase but said it has been 4% everytime since 2010.

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