The toll of commuting has become more expensive.

The New Jersey Turnpike Authority and Port Authority raised rates in January, and New Jersey Transit will raise its fares again in July. NJ Transit raised its prices by 15% last July, the first rate increase in nine years.

Customers who spoke with News 12 say they have certainly noticed.

The increased revenue has made a difference when it comes to balancing the budget.

Although ridership is still only 80% of what it was before the COVID-19 pandemic, projected revenue has almost fully recovered.

Officials said these price hikes were needed to maintain service.

“The fare hikes pay to hire engineers, our bus drivers and so on and so forth,” said NJ Transit President/CEO Kris Kolluri. “On the capital side it is, ‘Do we have rail cars and buses?’ We need about 1,000 new buses and 250 rail cars.”

Customer fares are the biggest piece of the revenue pie, but far from the only one. NJT will be relying on a new statewide corporate tax to essentially replace expiring COVID relief funds.

NJT also receives a sizable chunk of federal funding, but there’s uncertainty with a new administration. Kolluri says, as of now, what’s underway can continue.

“We have about $8 billion worth of projects that are funded by the federal government that are ongoing right now,” Kolluri said.

That includes the Portal Bridge replacement and the Gateway Program Hudson Tunnel Project.

New Jersey Transit is also updating its fleet with the goal of reaching zero emissions by 2040 and spending millions to improve accessibility.

“We certainly hope that these critical projects that our customers need and deserve that are underway don't get pulled,” Kolluri said. “We can't be in the 21st century and still operate a system that's in the 20th century. That's sort of the condition of some of these infrastructure assets.”