Gov. Christie Changes Stance on Cross-Hudson Transit Capacity

Buried in the Port Authority's recent report on the future its financing and operations, was a plan to move forward with a project to increase transit capacity across the Hudson River.

1 minute read

January 11, 2015, 5:00 AM PST

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


"Four years after killing a $12.4 billion tunnel that would have doubled commuter capacity to Manhattan, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has endorsed another stab at rail expansion as part of a plan to remake the Port Authority," reports Elsie Young for Bloomberg.

That's about where the balanced tone stops, and criticisms of Governor Christie's earlier decisions begin: "If Christie hadn’t stopped the Access to the Region’s Core project that began in 2009, mass-transit relief would have come as soon as 2018. Now he supports an approach, with new oversight by the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, that has no dedicated funding and would take at least 10 years."

Evidence of Governor Christie's change of heart came in the report released in December, which made news at the time for potentially cutting overnight and weekend service for the Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) route.

Governor Christie has taken a lot of heat over his original decision to end funding for the Access to the Region’s Core project, including an article in October by Dana Rubinstein.

Rubinstein also noted Governor Christie's change of heart in another critical article at the end of December.

Monday, January 5, 2015 in Bloomberg

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