New Jersey

NJ Transit needs a long-term fix, not a weeklong gimmick • New Jersey Monitor

Published

1 year ago

August 16, 2024

NJ Transit needs a long-term fix, not a weeklong gimmick • New Jersey Monitor

Freelance writer and editor Kim Kavin was at the Peapack train station in Somerset County on July 30, excited for a night out in New York City with a friend from California she hadn’t seen in years.

Unfortunately for Kavin, she was planning on NJ Transit getting her to and from the city. But after a 20-minute delay, the train was canceled. Kavin, who had already bought a round-trip ticket, asked NJ Transit to refund her $36.50 and has yet to hear back.

Kavin does not think much of Gov. Phil Murphy’s Thursday announcement that, as an apology for the transit agency’s abysmal performance this summer, all riders will get free trips on NJ Transit for a week starting Aug. 26.

“I don’t need a ride. I needed a ride when my friend was visiting from California. Now I need my $36.50 back. That’s what I want from Phil Murphy,” she said.

Listen, riders aren’t itching to get one or two train or bus trips for free; they want good, reliable public transportation year-round. And the prospect of a few on-the-house NJ Transit rides the week before a holiday weekend will not reassure them that, after the fare holiday ends, service will get any better.

“This fare holiday is a gimmick,” said Alex Ambrose, a policy analyst with progressive think tank New Jersey Policy Perspective. “It does nothing to actually address the structural problems that exist in NJ Transit, one of the biggest of which is that lawmakers have neglected to adequately fund transit for decades.”

This is a rare issue where progressive wonks and business leaders agree.

Michele Siekerka, president and CEO of the New Jersey Business & Industry Association, also opposes the fare holiday, though for a different reason. Siekerka hates it because it represents a bait-and-switch by Murphy’s administration.

Murphy helped push through a new surtax on some of the state’s most profitable businesses, which he said would help give the financially beleaguered NJ Transit a steady revenue stream for the next few years. Instead, Siekerka noted, the $1 billion the surtax is expected to generate in its first year is going to the state’s general fund — not to NJ Transit.

“If there was such a desperate need, why did we money-grab a billion dollars from the business community to stick in surplus for a year? It makes no sense,” she said. “It’s illogical, it’s nonsensical, it’s irrational, and it’s very, very difficult to have a legitimate discussion about.”

It’s not just the business community paying more to help fund public transit. NJ Transit approved a big fare hike this year — some fares rose 15% — and will tack on 3% fare hikes annually starting next July.

So after raising taxes and hiking fares to rescue NJ Transit from its a budget crisis, the Murphy administration will take $19 million the agency was expected to make from fares the last week of August and flush it down the toilet.

What sense does this make?

Murphy offering an apology to NJ Transit users is good, though he undercut it with his don’t-blame-me attitude (“A lot of this is out of our hands,” said our powerful governor who claims to have a close relationship with the president of the United States). What the apology should come with is not a gimmick to appease riders for one week, but a concrete plan to make sure NJ Transit service is frequent, reliable, and accessible. Hopefully we see that soon.

GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX

Source link

Related Topics:Featured nj transit Phil Murphy

Click to comment

New Jersey

NJ casino workers continue push to end smoking loophole

Published

2 hours ago

December 16, 2025

Press Room

NJ casino workers continue push to end smoking loophole

TRENTON, N.J. (WPVI) — New Jersey casino workers, who are pushing to permanently ban smoking in their workplaces, held a rally in Trenton on Monday.

A hearing was held to discuss a lawsuit that aims to close the smoking loophole in the Garden State.

For years, casino workers have been pursuing protections against secondhand smoke in their workplaces.

RELATED | Judge allows smoking to continue in Atlantic City casinos, dealing blow to workers

New Jersey’s Smoke-Free Air Act largely bans indoor smoking, but casinos have a long-standing exemption.

The lawsuit filed last April by the United Auto Workers, which represents dealers at the Bally’s, Caesars and Tropicana casinos.

In August 2024, a judge ruled in favor of the casinos to allow smoking to continue.

“Casino workers are expected to clock in to work every day despite inevitably facing a toxic environment that could cause countless health issues, including cancer, heart disease, and asthma,” said Nancy Erika Smith, the lawyer representing Casino Employees Against Smoking Effects (CEASE) and the UAW on Monday.

“We’re asking the court to find the exemption in New Jersey’s Smoke-Free Air Act unconstitutional and void it immediately. We hope this case will serve as a precedent for casinos across the country to close their smoking loopholes and stop poisoning their workers,” added Smith.

The casinos have warned that thousands of jobs and millions in gambling revenue and taxes could be lost if smoking was banned.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source link

New Jersey

11-Vehicle Crash Closes Turnpike, College Student Abducted: NJ Weekend

Published

14 hours ago

December 15, 2025

Press Room

11-Vehicle Crash Closes Turnpike, College Student Abducted: NJ Weekend

A teenager was shot to death in Jersey City, a woman was killed in a fiery crash with a dump truck in Ocean County, and a man is in critical condition after an SUV hit him in a Princeton crosswalk.

Here are the headlines from the weekend in New Jersey you may have missed.

Teen Shot Dead In Jersey City Apartment, Prosecutor Says

A 16-year-old boy was found shot to death in Jersey City on Friday night, prosecutors said.

Woman Killed In Fiery Head-On Dump Truck Crash In Ocean County

A woman was killed Friday when her van hit a dump truck head-on in Jackson and burst into flames, Jackson police said.

Evelin Villanueva-Detejeda, 43, of Perth Amboy, was killed in the crash that happened about 2 p.m. on Toms River Road (Route 571) near Osprey Place, Sgt. Edward Travisano said.

Six people sustained minor injuries in the collision late Friday afternoon, according to State Police Tpr. Christopher Postorino.

Read more: 11-Vehicle Crash, Overturned Truck Shut Down Turnpike In South Jersey: Police

NJ College Student Abducted From Campus, Sexually Assaulted By Armed Man, Police Say

A Union County man is facing a slew of charges after kidnapping a woman, according to the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office.

Akram Elsayed, 28, of Roselle, has been arrested after an investigation found that he’d kidnapped a woman and handcuffed her to the door of a car, police said.

Source link