By Christie Duffy
Correspondent
It travels a fraction of the distance every year, but it’s almost three times as expensive to operate.
For each hour the PATH trains run the rails, roughly $575 in Port Authority dollars are spent. Whereas on the city’s subway system, the cost per hour of service is two and a half times lower.
“I mean, it works well. I take it every day but that sounds like it’s not in line with other systems,” said PATH rider Atul Shrivastava.
“I want to know why it’s only two trains,” said a PATH rider.
“I think it’s a really well run train. It’s always clean and safe and if it’s a little bit more money, I think it’s worth it,” said Hoboken resident Lori Knight.
Former Port Authority planning official and NJ Transit executive Martin Robins is just as shocked as riders. He questions the numbers. He says the Port Authority’s finances should be more accessible to the public.
“The real line item detail that you would need and rates of pay and things like that, maintenance per car per year, all that. I don’t have access to that data today,” Robins said. “This question should be resolved so it doesn’t hang out there and serve as an albatross of the PA. They should answer it in detail and I think this would be a healthy exercise for the Port Authority.”
The Port Authority did not grant our request for an interview this week. But they did respond to some questions by email.
They say unlike the subway and New Jersey Transit, the PATH system gets no government subsidies. But the National Transit Database tells NJTV they do take that into account when calculating the true cost to operate.
The Port Authority also responded that they have to answer to stricter safety and labor rules than other rail systems, such as rigorous quarterly train inspections that last three days.
“What is the thrust of the operating costs for the system? Primarily labor,” Robins said. “The other expense primarily is maintaining the rail, the signal system, the power system and the track. But I don’t see where the PATH system is dramatically different.”
The Port Authority says they pay all the maintenance costs on their own rail lines, whereas NJ Transit gets to share those costs with Amtrak.
A major problem facing the PATH train system is its growing deficit, which is projected to be around $387 million this year, according to a recent report by the Citizens Budget Commission. Despite any offset by tolls you pay at the bridge and tunnels, it’s still expected to grow to nearly half a billion dollars in the next four years.
A spokesman for the Port Authority responded to the systems losses by saying, “All of the nation’s rail transit systems lose money,” adding that the agency has undergone extensive modernization in recent years. Stating the “agency has replaced all of its approximately 350 rail cars as of 2011, has committed to building a new Harrison rail station, is continuing post-Sandy damage mitigation and like other rail systems is instituting positive train control to enhance system safety.”
Even factoring out the cost of Sandy, the cost to run the PATH train system was still reportedly more expensive than other rail lines before the storm.
Right now it costs riders $2.50 for a one-way ride that is expected to go up this year to $2.75.
“I feel like I’m refilling my card almost every week and I put almost $40 on at a time,” said PATH rider Dan Orlando. “It’s very expensive.”
The third most expensive in the country, says the CBC report, when analyzing the operating cost by ride.