NJ Transit board members today are due to vote on higher fares and service changes today. Effective May 1, rail and intercity bus fares would go up by 25 percent. Local bus and light-rail riders would pay 10 percent more. Officials reduced the bus fare increase and revised service cuts following public hearings. A plan on the table would restore almost $4 million in bus routes eliminations that were announced in March. The proposal being voted on in Newark today would restore services to local bus routes in Middlesex, Morris, Monmouth, Somerset, Warren and Sussex counties.

The changes are part of efforts to offset a $300 million budget shortfall.

NJ Transit last raised fares by about 9 percent in 2007 to accommodate expanded services for record high ridership. AP