Time for a riddle: What is good for the environment, relieves congestion and pollution, serves hundreds of thousands of people a week, yet is consistently targeted by state lawmakers who discourage people from using it?

The answer is NJ Transit.

NJ Transit is the nation’s largest statewide public transportation system. It provides bus, rail, and light-rail services of almost 900,000 daily trips on 238 bus lines, 11 rail lines, and three light-rail lines, including a brand new one in Newark. It links New York City, New Jersey, and Philadelphia with 162 rail stations, 52 light-rail stations, and about 20,000 bus stops.

Not a bad way to go for the nation’s most densely populated state, and one where there is a daily exodus of tens of thousands of state residents to work in New York City or Philadelphia.

And the system really is working. NJ Transit had record ridership for the third year in a row, and transit officials expect the growth to continue this year.

But instead of doing everything they can to support a successful system, our political leaders are about to dump the third transit fare increase in the last decade on commuters.

Last week, NJ Transit officials announced plans to hike fares by 10 percent, starting this June. According to the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, a nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing the dependence on cars, on an inflation-adjusted basis, that equals a 33 percent increase, while the rate of inflation during the same period has only been about 21 percent in the Garden State.

On a real-dollar basis, that means a monthly commuter from Dover to New York will be paying an additional $300 per year. That doesn’t include daily parking fees at train stations (if you are lucky enough to be able to make it through the waiting list to actually get a monthly space) — another obscene tax for not congesting the roads and polluting the air.

The increase is needed purportedly to close a deficit of $60 million in the agency’s proposed budget of $1.5 billion.

And yet the state has failed for years to provide steady revenue to mass transit. During the 1990s transportation costs were kept level by deferring the buying of equipment, building new stations, and keeping infrastructure up to date.

With high gas prices, we should encourage mass-transit ridership. Yet although NJ Transit fares were raised 10 percent in 2005 with another 10 percent increase coming this year, tolls on the Garden State Parkway have not increased since the 1980s. We have the third-lowest gasoline taxes in the nation, and it hasn’t increased in years. In fact, this will be the fifth mass-transit fare hike since the last gasoline tax increase.

Instead of increasing the share of state aid to public transportation, the state’s share of payments will drop from 56 percent to just 53 percent with the fare increase.

Instead of helping the situation, Gov. Jon Corzine dug a deeper hole through more borrowing and debt financing. It’s the old New Jersey political trick of passing the responsibility and the bill along to future administrations, to become their problem long after “we” are safely out of office.

If we want to encourage support for mass transit, New Jersey should find a way to support it without digging deeper into riders’ pockets.

And while they’re at it, the state should find ways to make the rides more pleasant and convenient. The Long Island and Metro-North railroads offer cleaner, more modern trains, and consistent track assignments (so commuters don’t need to face a running herd every time a track is announced). You can even board 20 minutes early without getting stepped on or knocked over at the gate.

Oh yeah, and they do it for up to 30 percent lower fares.

Shouldn’t we place an emphasis on doing everything we can to keep the system running smoothly and to encourage increased ridership?

Instead, we do it the New Jersey way — a stressful commute for even more money.