Dear Editor:
NJ Transit has recently announced plans to adjust their peak and off-peak hours restrictions, thereby increasing the number of reduced fare tickets available to all rail-riding consumers and allowing senior citizens 65 and older, as well as passengers with disabilities, to ride at half-fare any time of day.
Currently, weekday peak hours are between the hours of 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. based on New York arrival and departure times. NJ Transit plans to trim peak hours to 6:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. to allow more customers to take advantage of off-peak reduced rates. These adjustments will make over 30 more trains available to customers at discounted off-peak hours.
NJ Transit plans to drop the restriction on peak hour travel for senior citizens 65 and older and passengers with disabilities. They will not, however, be changing the restrictions on seniors ages 62 to 64. Those seniors will continue to enjoy reduced fare on weekdays, except for peak hours trains. This very change has been called for in Assembly Bill A-2492, sponsored by me and Assemblyman Wisniewski.
I applaud New Jersey Transportation Commissioners Jamie Fox and NJ Transit board for being so responsible to consumer concerns and adjusting the restrictions to benefit all customers of the NJ Transit rail system. For further information regarding these changes, please visit the NJ Transit website at www.njtransit.com, or contact my district office at 201-209-9499.
Elba Perez-Cinciarelli
Assemblywoman, 31st District
Jersey City