Port Authority Lost $3B In Revenue During COVID Pandemic

NEW JERSEY — There’s an official price tag to the coronavirus pandemic, according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey: about $3 billion in lost revenue.

The bi-state agency, which is in charge of facilities such as the George Washington Bridge, the Lincoln Tunnel, Newark Airport, the PATH and the Port Authority Bus Terminal, released its proposed budget for 2023 last week.

The agency’s proposed 2023 core operating expense budget of $3.6 billion reflects an increase of $112 million, or 3.2 percent, compared to the 2022 core operating expense estimate. See more details here.

As part of their statement on the draft budget, the Port Authority noted that it saw a “$3 billion revenue loss during COVID.” According to the agency’s budget overview:

“Following the onset of the pandemic in 2020, the agency took deliberate and decisive actions to reduce its operating and capital spending in response to the $3 billion revenue loss it experienced for the 24-month period ending March 2022 resulting from the precipitous decline in activity volumes across its facilities, all the while keeping its facilities operating and advancing major capital projects in construction. The proposed 2023 budget reflects the ongoing recovery of activity volumes and revenues as compared to pre-pandemic projections, and accordingly, phases in additional spending in a fiscally responsible manner.”

In short, the wheels of economic recovery may be starting to turn again, according to the latest budget projection. Read More: 2022 Port Authority Budget Shows Signs Of COVID Recovery

Port Authority officials said their $8.3 billion spending plan for 2023 includes $3.7 billion for operating expenses and $1.7 billion for debt service and deferred expenses. It also includes $2.9 billion for annual capital spending to “modernize” existing facilities or build new ones, such as:

• Ongoing renovations at the Port Authority’s three major airports (Newark, LaGuardia, JFK)
• Planning for the replacement of the Midtown Bus Terminal with a multi-facility terminal complex built to increase bus capacity and help ease city congestion.
• Implementing a new 21st century fare collection system for the PATH and AirTrain
• Expanding capacity on the PATH commuter railroad
• Essential state-of-good-repair work critical to the upkeep of its legacy bridges and tunnels
• The ongoing $2 billion Restoring the George program to rehabilitate or replace nearly every component of the world’s busiest vehicular crossing, the agency’s 90-year-old George Washington Bridge

According to the Port Authority, if it gets a final green light, the 2023 budget would also:

• Fund the largest security budget in agency’s history -- nearly $1 billion -- including funds to continue to strengthen the agency’s cyber security posture
• Provide nearly $2 billion for operations and maintenance of the agency’s assets as post-COVID volumes increase across facilities
• Dedicate more than $17 million for new technology, customer experience, and employer-of-choice initiatives
• Invest more than $55 million to advance the agency’s net-zero emissions future and climate resiliency goals

The proposed 2023 budget is available online here for public review and comment. The public can submit written comments on the proposed budget here by Dec. 11.

TOLL INCREASES

The Port Authority noted that there will be “automatic inflation-based adjustments at its bridges, tunnels and AirTrains on Jan. 8. According to the agency:

“From September 2020 through September 2022, the consumer price index increase totaled 14 percent, which has triggered $1 increases in auto tolls at tunnels and bridges, as well as AirTrain fare increases of 25 cents. Fares at PATH remain at their current level. Discount plans will continue in effect.”

Meanwhile, New Jersey drivers also face a 3 percent toll hike on the NJ Turnpike and Garden State Parkway on Jan. 1 as part of the 2023 budget recently adopted by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, a separate agency. Read More: Tolls Set To Increase On NJ Turnpike, Garden State Parkway

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