NJ Transit on Track for May 1st Fare Hike

The price of taking a bus or train in New Jersey will be going up faster than anyone may have expected, NBCNewYork has learned.

Fare hikes for NJ Transit riders are on track for May first, just two and a half months from now, Executive Director James Weinstein confirmed.

Officials are still crunching numbers as to how big the increase will be, but Executive Director Jim Weinstein has been quoted previously as suggesting it could be as high as 30 per cent.

An increase that high would jump a round trip monthly bus pass from Freehold to Manhattan from the current $277 to around $360 and would make it the fourth transit increase since 2002.

Weinstein also said service cutes are being considered in the 4-percent range.

Just last week, Governor Chris Christie telegraphed the fare hikes when he said he would cancel a month and a half's worth of subsidy for the transit agency, totalling about $32 million.

Motorists can breathe a sigh of relief, however.

Governor Christie told nbcnewyork.com that since the cost of a vehicle title went up a few dollars last year, as well as tolls on the Turnpike and Parkway a couple of years ago, they won't have to pay any more.

While not everyone uses the 2 toll roads, all motorists do have to pay an annual registration fee of between $59 and $84.

While that hasn't gone up since 2002,  Governor Christie said that won't go up either.

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