Port Authority of NY-NJ to pay $15 million for 10 more PATH rail cars
(The following story by Steve Strunsky appeared on The Star-Ledger website on August 5, 2010.)
NEWARK, N.J. Despite declines in ridership, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey plans to approve the purchase of 10 more PATH rail cars for its new trans-Hudson fleet.
The additional cars, expected to be authorized by the bi-state agencys board at its meeting this afternoon, will cost $15 million. Thats on top of the $499 million the agency has already agreed to pay Yonkers-based Kawasaki Rail Car Inc. for 340 new cars it ordered in 2005.
So far, 155 of the 340 cars have been received, including 130 now in service. The remainder are to arrive by the end of 2011.
PATH ridership was actually down in 2009, officials said, with 72.9 million total trips, a drop of 2.8 percent from 2008. Officials blamed the drop on the regions lingering high unemployment rate.
Even so, ridership is projected to rise 20 percent over the coming decade.
Bill Baroni, the agencys deputy executive director said the projection is based on population and economic growth forecasts for the region. He added that, by ordering now, while Kawasaki is still in production of Port Authority cars, the agency is able to get a good price on the extra cars while addressing long-term needs.
"This is an agency that thinks in decades, not months," he said.
