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Your statement and references to NJ having some of the lowest taxes on gas in the country have me confounded. What your basically saying is that here is an area where NJ may actually have it right and instead of protecting our low gas tax we should view it as an opportunity to raise revenue. That right there is the problem with today's tax structure, we find places where the taxes are low or non-existent and we immediately try to change it. Leave the gas tax alone and figure out how to fix NJT separately.
On another note, don't worry, all commuters in NJ will suffer equally but in different ways. I am pretty sure NJ Turnpike tolls will go up soon enough and there will be tolls on roads that don't exist today.
So what are you going to do when the Transportation Trust Fund runs out? No new Roads , No New Bridges , New Tunnels , Mass Transit Projects , fixing up Rails and Roads. You need to raise the Gas Tax to at least fund that. And i guess you guys don't understand how NJT works , Raising the Gas Tax wouldn't fund NJT , just some key projects same with the Roads. In 3 years NJT will probably be far out of the red and in the Black. Tolls should be placed on I-80 East of Dover , I-78 East of I-287 and I-195 to pay for those roads and say the state millions in up keep costs. i'm sure when a few Bridges and Railways start buckling and collapsing then people with wake up and realize why we need to Fund the Transportation Trust fund. I hate people who don't know what they are taking about and give there opinion.
So what are you going to do when the Transportation Trust Fund runs out? No new Roads , No New Bridges , New Tunnels , Mass Transit Projects , fixing up Rails and Roads. You need to raise the Gas Tax to at least fund that. And i guess you guys don't understand how NJT works , Raising the Gas Tax wouldn't fund NJT , just some key projects same with the Roads. In 3 years NJT will probably be far out of the red and in the Black. Tolls should be placed on I-80 East of Dover , I-78 East of I-287 and I-195 to pay for those roads and say the state millions in up keep costs. i'm sure when a few Bridges and Railways start buckling and collapsing then people with wake up and realize why we need to Fund the Transportation Trust fund. I hate people who don't know what they are taking about and give there opinion.
Put a toll on the Pulaski - before it falls down. The state could use that money to fund the Abbott schools in Newark - and spare the rest of Essex county from having to subsidize their um.."stellar" performance.
Because they put fuel in buses and trains an increase in taxes would increase their costs. The same way it would increase your cost of putting fuel in your car.
I always thought public transportation was exempt from gas taxes. If not, it should be.
The state and its residents have been eating "fillet mignon's " for the longest time on borrowed money and increased taxes = Now time to "pay the check" with real available dollars in either take aways and or increased cost in others.
Or any of you that don't like it can leave the state if you wish.
That's false as only a small portion of people in NJ have access to mass transportation..if it were an option for me I would use it because it still would be cheaper then the cost of driving my car and I wouldn't have to deal with roads during bad weather
Essex, Hudson, Bergen, Union and Passaic counties all have good access to mass transit, and that's already over 1/3 of the population of NJ.
And Monmouth , Mercer , Middlesex , & Camden counties , so thats really 2/3 of the state covered by dense bus , rail and light rail. The rest of the state is covered by private bus and other agencies.
To your first point, while a fuel tax would increase the total cost of mass transit, that total cost, and more importantly, the total cost per rider would increase at a lower rate than the cost per driver. Further, if the cost of driving increases, then more people would opt to ride mass transit and the large fixed costs of the whole mass transit would be split among more people.
To your second point, general tax funds build and maintain roads. Those general funds are drawn from the whole citizenry, including those that never drive. You scoff at the "subsidy" paid to NJT while the roads are almost entirely "subsidized".
I don't think increased fuel costs would will chase many people into mass transit.
Your second point, I am not aware of any citizen who has not used the roads while either diving or being driven. Or who have goods and services proved for them through use of the roads.
Simple solution to all problems:
First of all, NO increases in fares, NO increases in tolls, NO new tolls.
Governor takes PEN in hand. Signs a piece of legislation that simply states there is NO deficit.
Within reason we can have all the transit, highway repairs, etc that we need.
Aren't these services something that ALL people benefit from?
Why is the tail wagging the dog? Aren't the humans supposed to be running this planet? If we all use these services they should just be provided. End of problem.
No Transit Agency in North American pays the Fuel or Gas Tax. And NJT is upgrading its entire Fleet slowly so they get a better MPG or in the Electric Train case accelerate faster and last longer.
Heres some samples of our new Equipment
ALP-46 Pulling 12 Bi-level cars into Busy Penn Station.
I think this fare increase will hurt all the Ridership gain NJT has gotten over the past 10 years and cost the state billions in lost Smart Growth Projects.
Do those trains run on gas ? That's news to me. What are those electric rails on the tracks for then ?
BTW, if the mass transit system is paying some of that gas tax, maybe it does pay for itself on a net basis.
Mmmm 21% of all electric generation is by gas....
A later poster says they don't pay a fuel tax. I don't know what the truth is but as to your comment above it clearly doesn't pay for itself. It would if we ONLY taxed fuel that mass transit uses.
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