NJ Transit gave a late-summer present to its riders: 8 days of service without charging fares. The “fare holiday” ran from Monday, August 26, through the following Monday, which was Labor Day. Commuters who had already paid for
their August monthly pass got a 25% discount for September.
Gov. Phil Murphy ordered the week of free travel within the state, as well as into New York and Philadelphia, essentially as a reward to New Jerseyans for getting through a summer marked by numerous cancellations and delays on many of the agency’s lines. Some of those delays were long-lasting.
Railfans, and some bus fans, showed up in force to take advantage of the free rides. This writer observed that boarding on buses went faster because there was no need to take the time required to collect fares. With the fare gates open at Secaucus Junction Station, it was also quicker and easier to make connections between lines on the upper and lower levels of the station. In theory, at least, that improved connectivity for Morris & Essex Line riders, since schedules for the M&E and other lines that stop at Secaucus allow very little transfer time at that station, especially on weekends.
Coalition member Joseph M. Clift, who once served as planning director for the Long Island Rail Road, cited a report by Larry Higgs in the Star-Ledger that the agency lost an estimated $19 million in revenue by allowing 8 days of free rides. He questioned how the agency would recoup that money and said that, since the governor had ordered the fare moratorium, he should also find the money to pay for it. Clift also complained that Murphy had ordered the week of free travel without going through the NJ Transit Board. In reality, such a step could have been a mere formality, because the governor appoints the Board and the head of the agency. Nevertheless, Clift said, “He showed his disdain for legal process by taking this step, as though he were an emperor; which showed that he actually is.”
Ridership numbers are not yet available for the period when fares were not collected, and it is likely that the agency carried at least some new riders, who rode because they did not have to pay fares. It is unknown how many of those riders will keep riding NJ Transit and paying fares for the privilege. There are some fare-free transit agencies, but most are small bus-only operations, mostly in “college towns” where the local college or university is a primary supporter and beneficiary of the bus service. There are no major transit systems in the United States or Canada that do not charge fares.
