Replacement considered for AirTrain at EWR

[CHamilton]

Newark airport monorail targeted for scrap heap, cost $354M to build

NEWARK — The 19-year-old AirTrain monorail system at Newark Liberty International Airport is being targeted for replacement.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has not publicly estimated the cost of a new system, or said when it expected the project to begin or end. But Port Authority commissioners are scheduled to vote Thursday to authorize spending $40 million on planning and design work for the project.

"Although substantial investment has been made to maintain current operations, such investment has not extended the 25-year design life of the system, nor has it expanded capacity," states the planning resolution proposed for adoption Thursday.

The agency plans to ask the Federal Aviation Administration for permission to use $40 million in airline ticket surcharges to offset the planning cost.

 

[fairviewroad]

The gerbils that apparently pull that thing must be getting tired. #worst #monorail #ever

 

[jis]

$40 million for planning! I bet the new boss at PANYNJ has some friend who is a planning consultant who will mysteriously get hired to do this job. That is par for the course at the PA. And they will come back with yet another most expensive and impractical solution provided by some company that manages to indirectly grease someone's palm. I have a very low opinion of the PA ya think?

 

[Bob Dylan]

Good point jis! And you think maybe the NY and NJ Governors offices, as well as the Mayor of NYC might just have some friends who are transportation consultants and might want a piece of this boondoggle, er project?

 

[fairviewroad]

I have a very low opinion of PA ya think?

As a Pennsylvania native I would respectfully ask that you put a "the" in front of "PA" in that sentence. ^_^

But otherwise, I agree!

 

[jis]

As a Pennsylvania native I would respectfully ask that you put a "the" in front of "PA" in that sentence. ^_^

Done

 

[Eric S]

The Port Authority seems especially incompetent. But all New York-area projects seem to have costs well above the already-inflated US rail/transit infrastructure costs. Plenty of MTA projects (Subway, LIRR, etc) that cost far greater than similar projects in other similarly-large and complicated world cities.