NJ Transit expected to propose 9 percent fare hike for 2016

NEW JERSEY (WABC) -- New Jersey transit is expected to propose a 9 percent fare increase in coming days that would take effect in 2016.

The last fare hike was in 2010, when the agency raised fares by an average of 22 percent.

Sources say the increase is necessary because NJ Transit faces an $80 million budget shortfall.

A train ticket from Metropark to New York is currently $10 and a monthly ticket $284, but those fares could rise to $10.90 and more than $300. Morristown fares would go from $13 and $361 to just over $14 and nearly $400.

Any fare increase would be subject to public hearings and an eventual vote by the transit agency's board.

NJ Transit officials have said they realize the previous increase was difficult for riders, so the aim is to keep any increase in the single digits.

In recent weeks, NJ Transit officials have been looking to trim expenses across the agency and said they had found about $40 million in savings.

But the agency has faced rising expenses, such as labor and benefits costs, and it remains in negotiations with unions representing its employees.