Commuters traveling between New Jersey and Manhattan are about to pay a little more for their rides. Starting today, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has officially implemented a fare increase across the PATH system. It’s another hit for the wallet, but the increase comes with the most significant service expansion the 118-year-old system has seen in decades.

As of today, the base fare for a single ride on the PATH has increased by 25 cents, jumping from $3.00 to $3.25. This adjustment affects all standard payment methods, including TAPP, SmartLink and Pay-Per-Ride MetroCards.

Multi-trip options still offer a better deal for those looking to save. Bundles of 10, 20 or 40 trips via TAPP cards now average $3.10 per ride, up from the previous $2.85. Senior citizens and riders with disabilities will see a smaller adjustment, with reduced-fare tickets increasing by a dime to $1.60.

This is only the first of a series of increases, however, as the Port Authority has outlined a roadmap of 25-cent increases every January through 2029, at which point a single ride will reach $4.00.

The fare hike is immediate, but the payoff for commuters arrives on May 17, when the PATH restores full seven-day service across all four lines for the first time since 2001.

The highlight of these changes is the return of direct Hoboken–World Trade Center weekend service, ending a nearly 25-year hiatus. Additionally, the time-consuming “Hoboken detour” for Jersey City riders is being eliminated during peak weekend hours. Between 10am and 9pm, the Journal Square–33rd St and Hoboken–33rd St lines will run every 10 minutes, while the Hoboken–WTC line will run every 20 minutes.

Port Authority Executive Director Kathryn Garcia noted that these changes mark a “larger turning point” for the system. The increased revenue is earmarked for critical infrastructure upgrades and system reliability.

“These game-changing service enhancements and improved fare payment options are continuing to provide more frequent and reliable service to our customers,” said PATH Director/General Manager Clarelle DeGraffe. “Having seven-day service on all our lines is a blueprint for more frequent, faster, and more reliable service for our customers.”

Beyond weekend changes, the agency is also tackling late-night frustration; Friday night service will now run every 20 minutes until 2am, finally replacing the dreaded 40-minute wait times.

For the thousands of daily riders, the higher price may be unwelcome, but the tradeoff is more convenience and reliability, and dramatic future improvements. Find out more at www.panynj.gov.

New fares on the PATH trains

• 1-Trip Total Access PATH Payment (TAPP), 1-Trip SmartLink, PATH SingleRide Ticket, Pay-Per-Ride MetroCard: $3.25 per ride
• PATH 2-Trip MetroCard: $6.50, or $3.25 per ride
• 10-Trip on TAPP Card: $31, or $3.10 per ride20-Trip on TAPP Card: $62, or $3.10 per ride
• 40-Trip on TAPP Card: $124, or $3.10 per ride
• Reduced Fare: $1.60, or $1.60 per ride
• TAPP Unlimited 1-Day Pass: $12.50
• TAPP Unlimited 7-Day Pass: $42.75
• TAPP Unlimited 30-Day Pass: $131.50

The acclaimed Apple TV series “Widow’s Bay” has become the latest streaming sensation to captivate viewers and critics alike—earning rave reviews across the board, thanks to its witty dialog and dark, eerie undertones.

Starring Matthew Rhys, Kate O’Flynn, and Stephen Root, the series, which premiered on April 29, is set in a fictional New England town for which the show is named, and focuses on the efforts of the local mayor, Tom Loftis, to turn the quaint locale into “the next Martha’s Vineyard.”

Yet Loftis, who is portrayed by Rhys, runs into one major hurdle in his scheme: Widow’s Bay, while both charming and picturesque on the surface, is also plagued by a series of unexplained supernatural events that have led its residents to decide that the town is “cursed.”

Though the mayor refuses to be swayed from his plans to market Widow’s Bay as the ultimate New England escape, he faces a steep uphill battle when it comes to conquering the town’s very sinister past, which includes tales of not one, but two, suspected serial killers—as well as claims that anyone born in the town will die if they dare to venture to the mainland.

Rather than lean into this sordid history and turn the town into a haunted attraction, Loftis is determined to move away from the town’s past and embrace a new future, a dream that, perhaps unsurprisingly, hits more than a few snags along the way.

Thus far, the show has received rave reviews—while also sparking a great deal of speculation about whether Widow’s Bay was inspired by a real-life location, having been shot across a number of Massachusetts towns, including Worcester, Rockport, and Gloucester.

In the show, Widow’s Bay, much like Martha’s Vineyard, is described as being a small island town off the coast of Massachusetts. However, its comparisons to the upscale New England hot spot end there.

Showrunner Katie Dippold has made clear that the mystery surrounding Widow’s Bay is part of its appeal, telling the Boston Globe: “It’s a long ferry ride, you don’t know exactly if the ferry comes from Massachusetts or Maine, but I purposely wanted to keep that a little vague.”

In fact, the only real-life source of inspiration that Dippold has credited for helping her to craft Widow’s Bay is located nearly 300 miles away from Massachusetts, in New Jersey, where the show’s creator was raised.

Speaking to Gizmodo, Dippold revealed that she wanted Widow’s Bay to conjure up the same kind of fear that she experienced as a child, when she would visit a local “haunted” house with her family.

“I would say the inspiration was trying to capture a certain feeling that I’ve always wanted,” she said.

“As a kid in New Jersey in the ‘80s, there was a haunted house that I would always go to with my family. It’s terrifying. I was way too young for it. But I loved that I would go, and it was terrifying, and I would scream, but we would also laugh, and it’s very communal.

“And so I’ve wanted to capture that feeling. And I’ve always wanted a place like this to actually exist.”

Dippold explained that she had always wanted to one day visit a town like the one that she has now created: an idyllic coastal community where every turn brings a new mystery and a sense of sinister energy lingers in the air.

“Like, I want to go to this island,” she shared. “I want to go to the weird inn, and I want to go to the Salty Whale. Just to feel like there’s these nooks and crannies you can discover is very exciting to me.”

A “haunted” house was not the only place where Dippold found inspiration, however—particularly when it came to creating that authentic New England “vibe,” as she described it.

The showrunner points to author Stephen King‘s storied works as being one of the many places she found ideas for the sinister underbelly of Widow’s Bay, while a restaurant in Marblehead, MA, helped to fan the flames of what would one day form the quintessential New England town.

“I really wanted to tap into that Stephen King atmosphere,” Dippold told the Globe. “And then also, a couple years ago, I went to this diner in Marblehead, MA. It’s called the Driftwood, and it was just everything you could possibly want.

“It was off the sea. There’s just big coffee mugs with old stains and locals in flannel shirts talking about the day. It was very cozy and very lived in, and I just never wanted to leave. It was out of a Stephen King book.”

Dippold also turned to another major Massachusetts-based thriller when it came to creating that prevalent feeling of terror: Stephen Spielberg‘s acclaimed 1975 hit “Jaws,” which was shot on Martha’s Vineyard.

However, she noted that the intent was never to create a “spoof” of the movie, but rather draw from the feeling of panic it creates among audiences.

“It was important for us to feel like [we weren’t doing] a parody of it or doing it exactly—but just the spirit of it,” she explained to Gizmodo.