“I did not come here today to browbeat or complain,” Murphy said. “Let’s fix the system and get it right.”
The governor then told the board members that a planned fare hike for 2019 was “off the table.”
Murphy said the tripling of the NJ Transit budget to $242 million would be used not only to ensure better rail and bus operation and hire adequate staff to insure that the second largest commuter carrier in the United States became a model.
Problems, ranging from the lack of adequate operations management and compliance to a 36-percent fare hike during the last eight years would become history, the governor said.
“There are ways to do things smarter,” Murphy said.
The fiscal year 2019 allotment would partially depend on increasing the tax rate for residents earning $1,000,000 or more, and increasing the state gasoline sales tax about a third of a percent on each gallon.
It was also the debut of NJ Transit Executive Director Kevin Corbett, who was appointed in February. Previously a vice president at engineering firm AECOM, he was involved with the Penn Station and Moynihan Station projects in New York City. Most importantly, he has been a commuter on NJ Transit who is aware of public sentiment about commuting and wants to change it for the better.
On Jan. 6, 46 commuter rail cars were out-of-service. Only six were out-of-service as of Feb. 27. From a low of 777 rail cars available for service in January, the end of February saw 911 cars available to ensure proper weekday consists for the 128 train sets needed. During the last recent few winter storms in New Jersey, hundreds of trees were removed from railroad rights-of-way in the middle of the night to ensure commuters were able to ride their trains into work in the morning.
Besides equipment repair and operation, 12 trainmasters and additional compliance personnel will be hired, among other job categories to insure proper operation and communication with ridership. As announced last month, 20 cars from Maryland will arrive to bolster capacity as NJ Transit cab cars are taken offline for positive train control work.
