$9.4B Port Authority Budget Marks $3.6B for Capital Expenses

Infrastructure

On Dec 16, 2024

Following a month-long public comment period, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Board of Commissioners today approved the agency’s $9.4 billion 2025 budget, which includes $4.1 billion in operating expenses, $3.6 billion in capital expenses, and $1.7 billion for debt service and deferred expenses.

The investment spans the redevelopment of the region’s major airports, the replacement of the outdated Midtown Bus Terminal, the once-in-a-lifetime top-to-bottom rehabilitation of the George Washington Bridge, the modernization of the roadway network entering the seaport’s busiest marine complex, and the two-year initiative to overhaul the PATH commuter rail’s tracks, stations and signals.

The budget includes an increase of 25 cents to the bridge and tunnel toll rate for all vehicle classes in January 2025 beyond the automatic, inflation-based adjustments that occur annually. This adjustment is expected to drive revenue increases needed to help address $3 billion in COVID-19 pandemic losses and inflationary pressures for the agency, while supporting the Port Authority’s projects at the agency’s bridges, tunnels, PATH, seaport and airports. In addition, the approved budget includes two toll adjustments to incentivize non-E-ZPass users to enroll and to incentivize the proper use of E-ZPass transponders. The agency announced a major communications campaign to encourage E-ZPass enrollment and proper transponder use to benefit from lower E-ZPass rates.

The agency’s $3.6 billion capital budget will target spending more than $750 million higher than 2024 capital spending as the agency advances several major capital projects such as the $2 billion Restoring the George program and the delivery of 72 new PATH railcars, and undertakes preliminary planning and substantial work to kick off its next set of priority projects, such as the multi-phase replacement of the Midtown Bus Terminal while continuing existing operations, the total replacement of the outmoded AirTrain Newark and advancement of the EWR Vision Plan to completely reimagine Newark Liberty International Airport after the successful opening of its new award-winning Terminal A.
Some of the capital spending in the agency’s 2025 budget will fund:

• The planning and design work needed to move forward on the EWR Vision Plan to transform Newark Liberty International Airport into a 21st century international gateway with a new on-airport mass transit system serving all terminals that will replace the existing AirTrain Newark that opened in the 1990s.
• The project to add pedestrian access from underserved Newark and Elizabeth communities to the Newark Airport Rail Link station, expanding mass transit and airport access for people in those communities seeking faster options to employment at the airport or in New York City via NJ TRANSIT or Amtrak.
• Further progress on the multi-year $2 billion Restoring the George program to replace or rehabilitate every major component of the 93-year-old George Washington Bridge, the world’s busiest bridge, including all 592 of its suspension wires. Of the program’s 11 projects, four are complete and six are underway, with a final project undergoing preliminary planning.
• The start of early works construction for a new world-class Midtown Bus Terminal, such as the platforms over the Lincoln Tunnel’s Dyer Avenue ramps and the start of work of a new bus staging and storage facility that will serve as the interim main terminal while the existing bus terminal is demolished. The bus terminal replacement project will be constructed in phases to allow for the continued operation of the main terminal building and minimal disruptions to service for bus customers.
• Track infrastructure replacement, station rehabilitations, signal and equipment upgrades, and new rail cars through the 2-year $430 million PATH Forward program to improve service and reliability of the PATH commuter rail.
• The full implementation of PATH’s new tap-and-go fare payment system by the end of 2025, including replacements of existing SmartLink/MetroCard readers with new TAPP readers at all PATH stations and the introduction of a new TAPP card that will enable carryovers of existing SmartLink PATH fare discounts.
• Rebuilding the entire Port Street complex of access roads to Port Newark and the Elizabeth-Port Authority Marine Terminal, which are among the busiest marine facilities within the East Coast’s busiest seaport complex. The current roadway and ramps were built more than 60 years ago and are being replaced with new roadways designed to modern highway standards and built to accommodate the longer and wider trucks that currently serve the port.

“For over a century, the Port Authority has been a pillar of imagination and innovation, shaping infrastructure that endures and evolves with this dynamic region,” said Port Authority Chairman Kevin O’Toole. “This budget continues our effort to set a bold new standard for that work. We’re investing significant money to keep the pedal to the metal on what has become the most ambitious capital program in our 103-year history, overhauling, modernizing and refreshing this region’s critical infrastructure as we chart a course to keep our region moving into an even stronger future.”

“The Port Authority is rewriting the story of regional infrastructure. We’ve seen LaGuardia rise from worst to first, JFK undergoing a sweeping transformation, Newark Liberty unveil its world-class Terminal A, and the busiest vehicular bridge in the world undergo a comprehensive renewal,” said Port Authority Executive Director Rick Cotton. “As we move into 2025 and begin early works construction for a new Midtown Bus Terminal, we are laser focused on building a future that will benefit this region for generations to come. This budget acknowledges our agency’s extraordinary momentum with ambitious projects that deliver lasting value.”

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