By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
Princeton Council has come out squarely against NJ Transit’s proposed 9-percent increase in bus and train fares, and the plan to discontinue the 655 bus route between Princeton and the University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro.
The increase and its impact on riders is “definitely a huge concern,” Mayor Liz Lempert said Monday afternoon, several hours before the Princeton Council held its regular meeting and adopted a resolution in opposition to the proposed moves.
“It is important to have a link to the hospital (for people who do not own cars),” Mayor Lempert said of NJ Transit’s plan to drop the 655 bus route.
And a hike in the fare could make it “more attractive” for people to drive their cars, which would result in a decline in train and bus ridership, the mayor said.
The proposed 9-percent fare hike means the cost of a monthly rail pass from Princeton Junction to Penn Station in New York City would increase from $414 to $451, or $37 per month. A monthly pass from Princeton (via the Dinky) to Penn Station would go up from $458 to $499, or $41 per month.
The monthly pass for the NJ Transit bus from Trenton to Princeton would increase from $76 to $83, or $7. A 10-trip pass would go up from $22.50 to $24.50, or $2.
The resolution, which was one of many items on the council’s agenda, noted that NJ Transit commuters already pay the highest fares in the United States. Combined with the last fare hike in 2010, the proposed hike would result in fares increasing 30 percent over the past five years.
The fare hike may lead to a decline in ridership, which in turn “may result in pressure for future service cuts and/or fare hikes,” the resolution said. “Decreasing bus and rail options increases the number of cars on the streets, which increases congestion and pollution, negatively impacting all residents.”
The resolution also called on NJ Transit to preserve a transit link from Princeton to the University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro.
It stated that “residents of Princeton who do not own a car currently rely on the 655 (bus) to get to the hospital clinic for medical care, and the cut in service will disproportionately hurt our low-income residents.”
The University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro should help to ensure that patients have access to medical services “by supporting transit to and from the hospital,” the resolution stated.
