MYFOXNY.COM - FOX 5 News has learned that NJ Transit board members were spending thousands of dollars on travel expenses and charged them to the cash-strapped agency.
At a time when NJ Transit was raising fares and suffering from a budget deficit, more than $10,000 was spent on trips to transportation conferences and nearly $300 in limousine bills.
FOX 5 News obtained expense reports detailing the charges board members Flora Castillo and Ken Pringle passed on to the agency.
Castillo charged NJ Transit $3,400 for a business trip to San Diego while Pringle passed along a $2,000 bill for a business trip to Seattle.
FOX 5 News spoke with Kate Slevin of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign who says the expenditures may be necessary, but riders won't likely respond positively.
"You can't take transit every day for every single thing you do but you do hope that the board members are taking the public transportation system as much as they can. Riders probably won't respond positively to this after being slapped with a 22 percent fare increase."
Most of the trips were taken before the financial system's meltdown.
In response, an NJ Transit spokesperson said:
"The time they take away from their normal jobs we make sure they are covered with those expenses."
NJ Transit tells FOX 5 News it is working to make more expense details available.
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