Groups Say NJ Transportation Fund is Running on Empty

Racquel Williams Reporting

A new report claims the New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund is on a destructive path...and will run out of money by mid-2011. Road repairs, transit services and vital federal funds will be at risk.

The report shows how the nearly $900 million in tax revenues raised for the fund every year, will be dedicated entirely to paying off interest and principal on old debt by next year. Zoe Baldwin with the Tri State Transportation Campaign says if the state let's the fund fall, there will be rough roads ahead.

"What you're going to see are deteriorated roadways and New Jersey already has the worst rated roads in the entire country. To think about letting that get any worse is absolutely irresponsible." says Baldwin.

The 12-page analysis, titled, "Spiral of Debt: The Unsustainable Structure of New Jersey's Transportation Trust Fund," was written by Regional Plan Association in conjunction with Tri-State Transportation Campaign and New Jersey Future.

The groups warn against the fund taking on additional unfunded debt. They recommend transitioning to more pay-as-you-go financing and stopping the practice of paying for maintenance with debt; looking to creatively reduce costs by internal restructuring and reprioritizing funding on certain projects; sharing the burden of raising new funds among all those who benefit from healthy transportation systems, including drivers, riders, businesses and polluters; and constitutionally dedicating any new monies to the trust fund and relying less on appropriations in state funding.

The Transportation Trust Fund, created in 1984, is the primary source of money paying for road, bridge and transit repairs in the state. Nearly half the $3.5 billion in annual spending to maintain, renew and expand New Jersey's transportation systems comes directly from the fund.

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