In our spotlight on Business Report tonight, the cost to ride the rails is officially going up.

In a unanimous vote today, New Jersey Transit's board of directors approved a 15% fare hike for bus and train riders.

It's the first rate increase at the agency in nearly a decade.

The new prices go into effect July 1st and will get a 3% annual bump every summer after that.

The move is intended to help New Jersey Transit close a more than $100 million budget gap it's facing in the upcoming fiscal year.

As Ted Goldberg reports, opponents made one final plea to the board today.

But their protest fell short.

This vote pains me very, very much.

It also pains anybody who rides NJ Transit who will now have to pay up to 15% more starting in July before voting unanimously to raise prices.

Board members explain their vote.

The alternative to filling that budget gap is cutting services.

And I think cutting services really does a disservice to working families in New Jersey in.

Terms of job losses.

That's going to be devastating to our fellow citizens who work very hard for this agency.

While we are planning for historic events like the World Cup and working to build ridership back to pre-pandemic levels, it's never been more important to ensure that NJ Transit has sufficient, stable and predictable funding for the short and long term needs for all our services and customers.

Public comment was also unanimous.

It's not right.

It's unconscionable.

Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla, who is also running for Congress, was among the large group stopping by today's NJ Transit Board meeting airing their grievances.

When you have higher increases, you get more people on driving cars, you get higher carbon emissions, and you increase the problems that we're already facing with a climate crisis.

So how is this good policy?

People like Bhalla criticized the board's vote and went as far as to question the board's independence.

They say that this this board of New Jersey Transit is not nothing more than a rubber stamp of the governor's policy.

And if that's the case, resign, or at least look in the mirror next time, get a chance and know that you're not an independent board.

You're just here doing somebody else's business, not the public's.

People have asked us if we're a rubber stamped for the governor.

I am not going to speak for anybody else here but for myself.

I will tell you I am not.

It is not a yes.

Just as a rubber stamp is a yes, considering all the factors that we discussed and that you've heard from my colleagues.

Before the vote, activists hoped a last minute rally could swing some votes.

No fare.

No fare hikes.

People complained that a fare hike isn't equitable and doesn't address NJ Transit's long term financial problems.

NJ Transit has argued higher prices go a long way to stabilizing their finances.

This fare hike, while presented as a partial solution to address the agency's financial challenges, effectively places the greatest burden on those who depend on public transit the most.

Our future cannot be card dependent.

It's unsustainable.

It's unfair.

New Jersey Transit knew that this fiscal cliff was coming for years.

They should have been planning a large conglomerate and large corporations that would be able to be taxed and a fee given to them.

Governor Phil Murphy has proposed a corporate transit fee for New Jersey's biggest businesses that could generate more than $800 million for NJ Transit.

But Murphy says that's not a permanent solution.

It's just to help NJ Transit get back on its feet.

Protesters and NJ Transit board members did agree on something.

They want state lawmakers to get involved.

Our state lawmakers have failed to adequately fund NJ Transit for years, and now transit riders are going to suffer because of it.

At a time when we should be encouraging more people to take public transit, a double digit fare increase is not only punitive but shortsighted.

I would encourage the legislature and the governor to find additional sources of funding to ensure that in the future transit does not have to cut services.

This is the first fare increase in nine years for NJ Transit, but under the approved plan, prices will increase 3% each year unless any changes are made.

In Newark, I'm Ted Goldberg.

NJ Spotlight News.