If you live in Jersey City, chances are the PATH train is your main connection to New York. But despite being such a critical part of New Jersey and New York’s transportation network, the Port Authority-controlled system loses more than $230 million annually, reports The New York Times.
For 2019, it’s slated to lose more than $400 million.
Because it’s not operated by state or local governments, the PATH train can’t extract contributions from taxpayers or developers that are capitalizing on the PATH service (the way that New York’s MTA does). So instead the PA subsidizes the system with money made from its more lucrative operations — airports, bridges, and tunnels.
As a result, the PATH train has become one of the “country’s most financially dependent public transit systems,” says the NYT.
Port Authority expenses in the past few years have included $4 billion on the Oculus transportation hub, $252 million on the new Harrison station (which serves less than 9k passengers per weekday according to the NYT), and $1.4 billion to repair tunnels damaged by Hurricane Sandy.
Unfortunately, there is no silver lining at the end of this tunnel. A fair hike is the only way that the PA can raise PATH revenue and no increase is planned for the near future. In the meantime, the PA plans on investing $4.3 billion in the PATH system over the next 10 years.
