Letter to the Editor: Sharing the Blame

Dear Mr. Lauriat:

Governors Phil Murphy (New Jersey) and Andrew Cuomo (New York) share equal blame with President Trump for failure to fund the $29 billion Gateway Tunnel. "Trump Seeks to Block Gateway Rail Tunnel" (Mark Niquette -- March 6). The math doesn't add up to pay for the Gateway Tunnel without real dollars from both NJ & NY. Cuomo promised $1.75 billion (loan from the Federal Rail Road Administration to be paid back by annual debt service payments), Murphy $1.9 billion (same loan to be paid back by surcharge on riders fares starting in 2021 and ending in 2038) with the Port Authority kicking in $1.9 billion. They claim coming up with 50% or $5.5 billion for the local share should justify Washington kicking in another 50% or $5.5 billion to pay for $11 billion toward building the tunnel portion. Cuomo & Murphy conveniently forget that the total Gateway project cost is $29 billion. Cuomo & Murphy naively believes that these dollars could be used as part of the 50% local share to leverage federal dollars.

Governor Murphy appears to support New Jersey Transit's proposal to finance his $1.9 billion initial contribution by attaching a 90 cent "fee" to riders coming to Penn Station starting in 2021 going up to $1.70 in 2028 and $2.20 in 2038. This would be used to pay back their own federal loan. Any proposed fare increase or surcharge would require public hearings followed by approval of the NJ Transit Board of Directors. NJ Transit fares have gone up five times for a total of 30% since 2010. This includes the most recent 9% 2015 fare increase. NJ Transit riders pay 50% of the cost per ride, which is more than most other transit systems around the nation. These fare increases help pay for operations including basic service and employee salaries. These proposed "fees" would be on top of other inevitable upcoming fare increases in future years. How many fare increases and "fees" does anyone believe NJ Transit riders will put up with? Using the NJ Transportation Trust fund for financing would make more sense.

Why would the Federal Transit Administration have accepted other federal dollars under its New Starts program local share financing requirements? This would be double dipping using FRA funding toward local share to obtain additional dollars from the FTA.

Without real hard cash financial resources from Washington ($14.6 billion), NJ ($7.3 billion) and NY ($7.3 billion), how will the full $29 billion Gateway Tunnel be paid for? A project can't be financed by just borrowing and fare surcharges alone. Washington, Albany and Trenton all share equal blame for the lack of a real $29 billion Gateway Tunnel financing package.

Sincerely,
Larry Penner
Great Neck, New York

Larry Penner is a transportation historian and advocate who previously worked 31 years for the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Transit Administration Region 2 NY Office.