Audit finds Port Authority of New York & New Jersey bloated

StorkNest

Stop that, its just silly
After raising tolls and PATH fares, the first interim report of the PANYNJ is out.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/80834343/Letter-to-Governors

This is the agency running PATH trains, also running ports in the area railroads service.

One example regarding railroading that is crazy, after increasing tolls there were complaints by truckers using the Howland Hook Container Terminal (called New York Container Terminal leased from the PA). This same terminal is one of two customers served by CSX and maybe NS over the reopened Arthur Kill lift bridge, the largest vertical lift bridge in the world. It would appear to make sense to run more freight trains to avoid the toll hikes but instead there was a push to help truckers.

Tolls and fares were initially announced to help cover World Trade Center costs, the announcement drove people nuts then the PA backed off this statement saying toll raises were to cover repairs and maintenance of infrastructure.

There have been attempts to get light rail over the Bayonne Bridge, one of the PA crossings and was initally built to handle a rail line in addition to road traffic, however this bridge has had severe problems because with the new container ships being built, it is too low to allow them underneath thus could harm port traffic, already some container ships must pass under it at low tide due to clearance. There were considerations to replace it with a new bridge or tunnel but last word is plans simply to raise the existing bridge will be done due to low cost.

There has also been slow progress on replacing the Goethals Bridge, another PA bridge, the new one is to be a suspension type with 6 lanes of traffic and rail, no mention of what the rail would be for. The existing bridge has only 4 lanes and they (along with the lanes on the Bayonne Bridge and Outerbridge Crossing) are narrow compared to normal lane width on highways and roadways.

I can only wonder if this would result in a change not only in the Port Authority but serve as a message to other public transit agencies.

The Port Authority runs:
PATH
AirTrain Newark and AirTrain JFK
the Port Authority Bus Terminal in NYC, George Washington Bridge Bus Station in NYC and Journal Square Transportation Center in Jersey City
4 bridges (Bayonne, Goethals, Outerbridge, George Washington)
2 tunnels (Lincoln & Holland)
some port facilities (Port Jersey Marine Terminal, Brooklyn Port Authority Marine Terminal, Howland Hook Marine Terminal, Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal)
some real estate (6 different ones in the metro area not counting the WTC)
the Downtown Manhattan Heliport
airports in the NYC area (Newark, JFK, LaGuardia, Teterboro)
Stewart Airport in Newburgh
and is considered to be given control of Atlantic City International Airport.

Personally, I think these public transit agencies are following the failed example of the Penn Central mixing so many different interests together under one agency.

The PA paid two companies for this audit, one company received $400,000 just to say simply, "The PA sucks."
 
Re your last sentence, here there are also "consultants" also leeching excessive amounts of cash, most seem to have connections with the government/local authorities/county councils etc.
They keep their mates sweet so the donations keep rolling in.
 
Back
Top