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NJ Tranist to institute a weight surcharge

DunEdinRanger

DunEdinRanger

I have to hand it to the folks at NJ Transit. They do listen.

When Governor Christie announced the depth of the budget crisis here and NJ Transit was forced to come up with $330 Million Dollars, they were going to institute a 25% fare hike across the board.

After a series of public hearings throughout the state they have announced, through their web site, http://www.njtransit.com that fares will be raised an average of 15% with the remaining money to be made up by a weight surcharge imposed on "hefty" passengers who "ooze" into the personal space of fellow commuters.

Conductors will be empowered to escort passengers at the main terminals of Hoboken, Newark, and Secaucus to special scales that quickly calculate BMI. For ever point above the ideal passengers will be charged an additional $10 per month on their rail pass.
 
mr_economy

mr_economy

While I love the idea of a "fat tax," BMI alone is a terrible way to define obesity. There should be some sort of index score created using BMI and body fat percentage, so that people aren't punished for having lean mass.
 
dpm802

dpm802

Poor Kevin Smith ... first he gets kicked off an airplane flying intra-state in California, and now he can't even stay home in NJ without paying extra to travel.

Whatever happened to Corzine's plan to sell the NJTP to private investors? I guess that fizzled out. I haven't heard anything about it in more than year.
 
proxymoron

proxymoron

Interesting. Do you have the link for the article? I can't believe they actually used 'ooze' and 'hefty.' Literally adding insult to injury.

I also wonder about the rationale. I can't imagine the fuel penalty from added weight is comparable to that of airplanes (where I might support such measures based solely on bad regional jet experiences). Certainly, the price of diesel isn't comparable to jet fuel.
 
shamus

shamus

Well I guess Gov Christy feel very safe now that he is Governor and won't have to take public transportation for his commute. In his photographs, he looks like he is more than 100 pounds overweight! Does that mean that he will have to pay a surcharge to the taxpayers of NJ, since the fuel consumption of his limo will get less MPG than if he was lean and fit? That's not even taking into account the added carbon emissions and green house gasses to propel the limo with the added weight on the road.

Tutti Frutti, Cheers
 
C

C Reed

as some one whom takes the subway every day I would fully support charging fat or smelly people more.

April fools or not.
 
TorzJohnson

TorzJohnson

mr_economy said:
While I love the idea of a "fat tax...
Click to expand...
This country in the year 2010 is VASTLY different than the one I grew up in. The concept of taxing or discriminating against people because of what they weigh or if they smoke would have just astonished everybody in the 60's or 70's.

Not the same country any more.
 
Edcculus

Edcculus

Too bad this isn't true...I fully support a fat tax. I've been advocating "punch a fat guy day" for years. Its a literal fight against obesity.

TorzJohnson said:
This country in the year 2010 is VASTLY different than the one I grew up in. The concept of taxing or discriminating against people because of what they weigh or if they smoke would have just astonished everybody in the 60's or 70's.

Not the same country any more.
Click to expand...

Didja walk uphill in the snow both ways to school too?
 
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