despite all its flaws New Jersey Transit delivers a big economic bang for the state and has sweeping benefits for residents that's the conclusion of new data released this week from the Regional Plan Association putting a dollar value on the state's public transit system and how much it'll cost us if we fail to fund it senior correspondent Brenda Flanigan takes a look many riders who depend on NJ Transit fumed with frustration this week as tripledigit temps caused mechanical breakdowns cancellations and sweat soaked misery even as the agency reminded customers a 3% fair hike's coming July 1st i'm on a train with no AC in 102° weather one vented on X yet NJ Transit thinks they deserve a raise second price hike in a year yet the service remains a word we can't say on TV and Hackinack commuters explained "We have to have transportation in order to get back and forth um from different uh counties and and places there's not a lot of jobs in this county without the public transportation it's not worth it."

See always yes I need the train because the train isn't exact the time the AY's customer advocate posted an apology for heat related disruptions and he admitted they could happen again nj Transit must rely on Amtrak to fix overhead power lines while it plays catch-up after years of underfunding meanwhile it's riders who feel the heat as NJ Transit struggles that's the classic problem that transit properties have right there's not enough money to do the things that the customers feel i would say it's a great loss to the state to let it struggle because it does add so much how much rachel Weinberger pointed to a new report from the Regional Plan Association it calculates NJ Transit adds up to 13.8 billion in annual economic and social benefits statewide that's worth more than $10,000 a year for the average New Jersey household plus it reduces traffic congestion and air pollution the report breaks it down even further for five different towns Atlantic City Bloomfield New York Union City and Hackinack where it estimates how much living expenses would rise without NJ Transit just to understand because when you said $13 billion I I don't know about you Brenda but that doesn't mean anything to me but if you said I am doubling my rent or increasing it by 50% or something like that that's a number that I can really understand there are so many people that rely on transit not just because it's convenient but because they don't have any other choice alex Ambrose with NJ Policy Perspective says the report shows in hard numbers that NJ Transit functions not as a business but as a public service that multiplies benefits in all directions people who use transit then have access to jobs they have access to doctors they have access to schools they have access to shopping centers that without transit they wouldn't have access to and those places also wouldn't have access to those customers so that multiplying factor of New Jersey transit is essential for both our economy and for New Jerseyians own budgets the report should really be mandatory reading for the legislature and the two gubanatorial candidates len Resto's past president of Jerseys Railroad Passenger Association he says NJ Transit can operate more efficiently noting his train ticket often goes uncollected he applauds measures like the renewed corporate transit fee that'll boost funding for the agency but that fee expires in 5 years and the fairbox isn't enough he warns when you have a system that that's that is so unreliable you just can't keep adding 3% each year to the burden when inflation is so high and the service is just horrible transit advocates acknowledge the agency is buying new cars and engines replacing ancient infrastructure and just settled an engineer strike but they add Trenton still needs to figure out a solid dedicated funding plan to make NJ Transit a truly worldass ride i'm Brenda Flanigan NJ Spotlight News