NEWARK N.J. (PIX11) - Leon Williams from East Orange is waiting for a NJ Transit train to take him to his ailing mother, and no fare hike will stop him.
"I gotta go see my mom. If I got money in my pocket, I gotta pay what I got to," said Williams. "My mom is my heart; she's the one who raised me, so I gotta go see her."
But he, like everyone else riding NJ Transit, has no choice but to pay the 15% higher fares that went into effect Monday.
The fare hike was approved in April, and it's not sitting well with many riders, especially after several weeks of nightmare morning and evening commutes.
"I believe that before New Jersey Transit starts going up on the fares, they need to get their act together with all the delays, all the confusion, all the overhead problems," said Daniel Clyburn of East Orange. "It's not fair to the consumers to be going up on the fares."
We requested an in-person interview with New Jersey Transit President and CEO Kevin Corbett on Monday but were told he was unavailable.
In a written statement, Corbett said the agency's strategy for financial stability for fiscal year 2025 involves efforts to maximize cost-savings, solve the immediate need for their operating budget gap of more than $100 million, and solve long-term funding needs.
In his statement, he said, in part, quote:
"While a fare increase is always an option of last resort – as evidenced by the six straight years of no fare increases under this administration – we recognize the impact an increase of any size has on all our customers and remain strongly committed to ensuring that overall service levels are not reduced through FY25."
New Jersey Transit President and CEO Kevin Corbett"Sometimes the trains are not as tidy as they should," said Gifty Annobil, a NJ Transit rider from Newark. "I expect that you know they hire some cleaners to clean the trains before they start working the next morning."
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