New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie today released the following statement regarding the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey's proposed toll hike plan:
"The Port Authority has informed us of its proposal to dramatically increase tolls on its tunnels and bridges and fares on the PATH.
While we understand the Port Authority leadership's concerns about a potential downgrade to its bond rating if toll increases are not instituted, our primary concern with this proposal is its impact on our respective states' residents and commercial users of the crossings.
A downgrade of the Port Authority's bond rating does indeed pose a potentially disastrous result on a transportation network that millions of residents of the states of New Jersey and New York rely on and would be unacceptable.
We will review the proposal with that in mind but have obvious and significant concerns. The Port Authority is facing financial issues but so are families in the states of New York and New Jersey, and the answer cannot always be an indiscriminate and exorbitant increase in the cost to the taxpayer, or in this case, toll payer. As families must carefully and effectively manage their finances at this difficult time, so must government.
It is our joint intention to cooperatively address this issue without regard for partisanship or parochialism, as was the intention and spirit of the creation of the Port Authority as a regional entity in 1921."
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