Earlier this month, Connecticut passed a two-year, $40 billion budget that will raise taxes and increase infrastructure spending throughout the state, making it a “historic investment” in transportation. Meanwhile, New Jersey moves in the opposite direction by cutting NJ Transit’s funding and subsequently forcing the agency to move forward on a proposal to reduce service and implement a 9 percent fare hike.

By 2015, it should be apparent as to why public transportation is so important to New Jersey. For those that are unconvinced, a paper that was published in Urban Studies (2013) concludes that the hidden economic value of public transit could be worth anywhere from $1.5 million to $1.8 billion a year per metropolitan area. Current benefit-cost evaluations may therefore underestimate the benefits of improving transit service, particularly in large cities with existing transit networks.

As NJ Transit’s ridership steadily increases year after year while the state tries to find more ways to shift the agency’s costs on to the backs of middle class workers (read: tax), why doesn’t NJ Transit look at its problems through new eyes – try something that it hasn’t tried before? What is there to lose? What the agency is proposing does not and never will work, and finger pointing has never been known to produce results.

Perhaps NJ Transit should look into changing the way in which commuters pay fare when boarding buses throughout the state. As it stands, NJ Transit charges commuters based on the distance being traveled. This distance-based fare-pricing system is more fair for commuters traveling shorter distances, however, the system’s complexity makes it hard to understand and collect fares. A flat-fare system, similar to Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA), is more attractive to long-distance riders, especially those who would otherwise take an automobile. With NJ Transit’s long-distance fares poised to become even more expensive, riding public transit in New Jersey has never been less attractive.

In 2014, NJ Transit reported to have 161 million riders and a $363.8 million fare revenue from bus services across the state. If the fare revenue is equally divided by the total number of riders, the result is $2.30 per commuter. If NJ Transit makes it easier to ride its buses, ridership will likely continue to rise, and therefore eventually lessen the cost per commuter. Imagine being able to travel throughout New Jersey for just a few dollars!

Additionally, why isn’t NJ Transit joining the growing list of transit agencies that are partnering with local colleges and universities to offer a universal pass (U-Pass) to college students? A U-Pass program, which turns a student ID card into an unlimited-access transit pass, makes public transit more accessible to students, and reduces traffic congestion and parking demand. The cost of the program is typically shared by the university and its students through an increase in on-campus parking fees and a low-cost mandatory tuition fee. Therefore, a U-Pass program would build a transit culture among millennials while providing a guaranteed source of revenue for NJ Transit. It’s a win for the university, it’s a win for the students, and it’s a win for NJ Transit.

If you have traveled to a place where public transportation worked well, write down what it is about that system that you liked and send it to NJ Transit and NJCAN (New Jersey Commuters Action Network). What service could public transportation provide that would make you want to use it and feel like you can count on it?

Maybe legislators should ask themselves what service NJ Transit could provide that would make them change the funding mechanism. Maybe businesses could look at what would make them want to support the transit agency. New Jersey is a relatively small state with the potential to establish a state-wide transit system that, not only we can be proud of, but one that can serve as a model for other states. What we can’t do is nothing.

What I would like to see is a regular, reliable and accessible system. What about you?

Liam Blank is an aspiring urban planner and a student at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. You can follow Liam on Facebook and LinkedIn.