MTA CEO and Chairman Janno Leiber jeered New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy at a budget hearing in Albany Wednesday.

“Phil Murphy said he was gonna fix NJ Transit if it kills him. I’m not sure. He’s not dying, and I’m not even sure if he’s trying,” Lieber said.

What You Need To Know

  • MTA Chairman Janno Lieber was critical of New Jersey Gov. Phill Murphy’s handling of NJ Transit as it faces fare hikes

  • The agency is considering a 15% fare hike, the first in nearly a decade, but the higher ticket prices will still leave NJ Transit facing a nearly $800 million budget deficit next year

  • Murphy has been one of the biggest opponents of the MTA’s congestion pricing program

He was critical of Murphy’s handling of NJ Transit, which also serves commuters in parts of Rockland County and Orange County, each a part of New York.

The agency is considering a 15% fare hike, the first in nearly a decade, but the higher ticket prices will still leave NJ Transit facing a nearly $800 million budget deficit next year. 

Lieber said the governor has his transportation spending priorities distorted. 

“Instead of investing in transit for reasons I don't understand, they've got a $2 billion turnpike widening project that will just pump more cars into the Holland Tunnel. So they're creating a big old parking lot on their side of the river,”  said Leiber.

Murphy has been one of the biggest opponents of the MTA’s congestion pricing program.

His latest lawsuit hopes to halt the tolling program, set to begin in the spring. It would charge drivers $15 for entering Manhattan below 60th Street.

The law suite argues the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration  didn’t conduct a proper review of the toll’s impact on New Jersey drivers, claiming they’d be unfairly targeted.

New Jersey drivers who use the Holland or Lincoln tunnels would be eligible for a $5 credit under the congestion pricing program, but Murphy has said that is still too big a burden.

Lieber called the lawsuit “frivolous.”