SECAUCUS, N.J. — NJ Transit commuters and Amtrak passengers tired of dealing with frequent issues with Amtrak’s Portal Bridge can now do something about it: Pay for a replacement themselves.
It’s not buying the Brooklyn Bridge, but it’s close.
A GoFundMe campaign to replace the 108-year-old bridge over the Hackensack River — presumably tongue in cheek — was created Wednesday by someone calling him or herself “Sad Jersey Commuter,” and after two days, has already raised $5 of its goal of, um, $920 million. That’s a whopping 0.00000005 percent of the total.
Bloomberg reports that a spokesman for Amtrak, which owns the bridge, declined to comment. NJ Transit spokeswoman Nancy Snyder said in an email that “We appreciate the public’s interest in this vital project.”
The Portal Bridge is a frequent source of delays for trains traveling to and from New York’s Penn Station [see “Bridge failure leads to NJ Transit commuter woes,” Trains News Wire, Oct. 31, 2018.] Earlier this month, service across the swing bridge, used by more than 400 trains a day, was halted when it was struck by a tugboat [See “Tugboat strikes bridge, delays service for Amtrak, NJ Transit,” Trains News Wire, Nov. 14, 2018].
The author of the campaign notes that $600 million in bond funding has already been approved, and adds, “Yeah, I added 20 million in oversight funding, but we are going to totally chew through that in no time when this goes massively over budget.”
If the rest of the country benefits from this bridge even though we never use it, then we’ll be equally hurt when the bridge isn’t there. “Bring it on.” And to be sure, I’m sure it will have some effect. But that’s the nature of determining just how much something is really needed. Perhaps Hyperloop (or similar technology) could solve the problem?
Mike Friedman asks, “Whatever happened to the United States? Answer: The United States was dissolved when the states were required to pay for the Midwest and California corridors while the far more expensive Amtrak northeastern corridor operates without state payment.
“You pay for yours, I’ll pay for mine.” Uh huh. That sure works. Particularly in sparsely populated places that still require interstate highways and airports.
Whatever happened to the UNITED States?
If you think that the economic health of New York and its region is just an issue for people who live there, you fail to understand economics on any level.
LAURENCE CARBONETTI You’re right. I’ll pay for my roads and bridges and you pay for yours. That’s the only fair way. Anything else is just socialism. And that is bad for everyone, except of course the deadbeats.
This bridge affects people across the country. I have family in New England who visit me in Alaska by way of Amtrak and flights from the DC area. They cross that bridge often. I cross that bridge often when visiting friends and relatives in the northeast. So there is a nationwide interest in that bridge, even if the majority of users are local commuters.
Is this a great country, or what?
I guess, then, Mr. McGuire, the same should be done for roads and bridges in the road system in your town and state. I will never drive on them. Why should my, or anyone else’s money not from your area contribute to the 90% federal match???????????????
This may be a joke but in reality this is the way it should be paid for. That is by the people who use the bridge and benefit from it. It should be paid for by New York and New Jersey and Amtrak. A surcharge should be added to every ticket that is sold that includes a trip over the bridge. In addition New York State, New Jersey and New York City should pay an amount that would cover a percentage of the cost. No need to have people in other locations pay for a bridge that they will never use.
Whoever contributes should be awarded shares – shares in the perpetual operationing deficit of the railroad.
This would be funny if it wasn’t so sad.