3/3/2008:

New rates now in effect.

How will this change your life?

The new higher PATH fare will:
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12/28/2007 Update:

FYI, the board of the Port Authority is scheduled to vote on the proposed fare hikes next Friday, January 4, 2008. If approved, the rates go into effect some time in March.

11/16/2007:

So the PATH fares are going up a buck (for round trip) and bridges and tunnels up $2 (peak times). See NY Times article here.

lincoln-tunnel-viaduct-hoboken-commuting-costs-increase.jpg

NY Waterway ferries are also considering a rate hike soon.

The Record Online said: “Getting to work has come down to picking your poison. You can either pay more in gas and tolls to drive, or you can pay more in fares to ride buses, trains, subways and ferries.”

That, with the NJ Transit 9.6% hike this year, many commuters will be $250-$500 lighter in the pocket annually. How does that affect you?

2/21/2007 update:

It’s official: NJ Transit will raise bus and train fares as much as 9.6 percent, and as early as June 1.

Readers: Will this affect any of you? Do you care?

1/25/2007:
nj-transittrain.jpgBeen tossing these ideas around for a few days, as numerous readers had sent in emails regarding some recent fare increases for both NJ Transit as well as the NY Waterway Ferry.

The Transit fare hikes seem to be unfair, as some people are complaining that the train and bus service sucks, never on time and are very dirty. Others have noted that the conductor never even collects their ticket, thus allowing them to use them over and over again!

Here’s a link here: 10 Percent Fare Hike Proposed for NJ Transit.

The NY Waterway Ferry service is another story. Their rates have gone up tremendously. One particular route (South Hoboken to World Financial Center) has seen multiple raises since 2000, when one-way fares were $2.00 and monthly passes were $75. Increases in 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005 tugged the single/monthly fares upwards to $2/$80, $2/$92, $3.50/$107.50 and $4/$127.50 respectively.

The latest recent increase which took effect on January 1, 2007, raised WFC fares to $4.50 for a one-way and $150.00 for a monthly pass.

Mike, a Hoboken411 reader said this:

ny-waterway-ferry-sm.jpg“They just increased their prices for the New Year and prior to that had done the same just a few months earlier. Go to the NY Waterway terminal in the NJ Transit Facility and take a look and the “sandwich sign” which reads something like “customer alert: new fare structure.” This time last year the tickets had cost $4.00 and now they are up to $4.50 one way. With this sudden and drastic increase in fares I will play out the scenario that is going to happen: Ridership is going to decrease with each fare increase prompting them to evaluate their drop in ticket revenue as increased operating costs therefore sparking another increase which will further decrease ridership. Give it two years and the tickets will probably be $6.50 and at 50% capacity. If you go to the terminal any morning and watch either the World Financial Center or Pier 11 depart you will see that both boats are nearly full on each ride.”

Are these this just normal “cost of doing business” increases, or is something fishy going on here?

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