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Re: Port Authority To Jersey City - Drop Dead
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So your issue is with the magnitude of PATH's costs.. not the accounting treatment. Maintenance and salaries should be expensed in the current period instead of amortized over a longer time. That being said, PATH's salaries and pension costs seem way too high.
Posted on: 2016/6/7 19:12
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Re: Port Authority To Jersey City - Drop Dead
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Regardless of who wins the next election, the friends of Christie are likely out of a job come Jan. 2018. Christie is term limited.
Posted on: 2016/6/7 18:06
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Re: Port Authority To Jersey City - Drop Dead
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PATH supposedly has a farebox recovery ratio of 41% as compared with London's 92% and over 100% for Hong Kong and Tokyo. This is supposedly fare revenue divided by total operating expenses, so I don't think it would include depreciation on the new WTC station (nor would the revenue portion include any money the aforementioned systems get from real estate deals). It probably would, however, include things like maintenance, upkeep and security for the station, and then other costs like Port Authority police salaries for police that aren't patrolling the PATH system 100% of the time could get unfairly charged as a PATH expense. There is always the opportunity for manipulating the numbers in this context, even with the KPMG audit. That said, 41% is still rather pitiful given the volume of riders, frequency of service and the fact that fares have been raised so many times over the last few years. I recall another thread on here some time ago about how high the window washers and other maintenance works on PATH get paid, along with generous pensions. No doubt that cuts the recovery ratio down.
Posted on: 2016/6/7 17:23
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Re: Port Authority To Jersey City - Drop Dead
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Do you understand the accounting concept of depreciation on facilities? They can't just expense the cost of facilities/fixed assets all at once. They must be depreciated over the long term.
Posted on: 2016/6/7 16:11
Edited by WhoElseCouldIBe on 2016/6/7 16:27:55
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Re: Port Authority To Jersey City - Drop Dead
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The issue isn't PA ineptitude (surprise), it's national transport policy. In parts of Asia, transit companies are also developers and landlords and capture profits from the developments and businesses that benefit from the transit service. That is why the Hong Kong transit company is profitable.
In the US we don't do that, at least not for the past 70 years. We separate transit operation from the development and land use. If we were in Hong Kong, PATH would be developing the condos in JC, and/or receiving money from KHovnanian and from Gotham West and from LeFrak. The developers would pay money to the transit operator for providing the transit service that makes their own developments valuable. Instead, transit in the US is a public utility that relies on traditional public sector revenue streams to operate. http://www.theatlantic.com/china/arch ... sportation-system/279528/
Posted on: 2016/6/7 15:55
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Because PA is... ? raking in craploads of revenues from tolls and airport fees ? notoriously unresponsive and uninformative to the public ? pretty high-handed with the public and local pols ? a political chew toy for the governors ? a scratching post for its ridership, for whom #FirstWorldProblems abound ? a big player in the hot mess known as WTC Quote: Why can we not do the same here for our transit system? Developers getting filthy rich by adding hundreds of new commuter colonies should contribute to a fund that finances transit improvements.... Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn't. Funding for PA is pretty complex, as it tries to self-fund via tolls and airport fees. PA's involvement in development spectacularly backfired at WTC. Abatements in JC do typically try to redirect funds. E.g. a big construction project at JSQ put in a huge sum designated to rebuild the Loew's Theater. (That money is now getting redirected, due to an unrelated political mess.) Quote: You can't expect the PA, which loses money on every train it runs to just throw away more money just to be a good pal and support the development feeding frenzy. It loses money on the PATH, it makes money in other divisions. It also has no choice but to do some of the upgrades in progress. E.g. they were required by federal law to upgrade all the switches to PTC. My guess is that current management hates JC, because: ? Fulop is suing PA for not paying millions in taxes ? Fulop is gunning for gov, and if he's elected, then the friends of Christie are out of a job ? PATH loses money Degnan likely sees Fulop as both a nuisance and a threat.
Posted on: 2016/6/7 15:54
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Something like new station is a PATH expense (potentially), when there is actually a very large RE component.
Posted on: 2016/6/7 15:52
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H&M did great... when governments were building tunnels and stations for it. Once the Holland Tunnel opened, ridership declined, they went into bankruptcy, and limped on subsidized support for years. PA didn't want it, and refused to take ownership of itm until it was required to do so as part of the WTC construction compromise / pact with the devil. Quote: Look at the Jitney's Jitneys do short hops to, wait for it... subsidized public transport stations. Impressive. Meanwhile, private ferries are not making a killing, they're getting killed. When the WTC PATH was out for a few years, the ferry services had to expand; when the PATH re-opened, they were stuck with expensive infrastructure that they couldn't afford, and had to get bailed out. Quote: or public transportation systems in Asian countries are turning a profit. Like what? Tokyo's subways, perhaps? You do understand that while in many respects that system is run well, it's also horrendously overcrowded during rush hour, to the point where the PATH today looks luxurious? Quote: PATH is just grossly mismanaged. So are a ton of those Chinatown bus lines. What's your point? You do realize that the fantasy of tearing apart PA ultimately won't change anything, yes? No matter what, someone needs to manage the bridges and tunnels; it's going to be an interstate agency; it's going to be in charge of billions in revenues; accountability is always going to be tough. And if any governor decides to use it as a patronage giveaway instead of a responsible agency, it's going to be poorly run.
Posted on: 2016/6/7 15:38
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And how would they do that? (Outside of blatant fraud) You realize the PATH is audited by KPMG, right?
Posted on: 2016/6/7 15:38
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I'm pretty sure the PA is using accounting tricks to move costs to the PATH and make it 'unprofitable'. It's pretty easy to allocate expenses where you want them allocated.
Posted on: 2016/6/7 15:33
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That's not true. H&M was a for-profit, privately built subway back in the day. Look at the Jitney's or public transportation systems in Asian countries are turning a profit. PATH is just grossly mismanaged.
Posted on: 2016/6/7 15:15
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Because everyone benefits from that type of infrastructure. It's a public good, and (obviously) it crosses numerous political areas. PATH is primarily a commuter line, meaning it provides benefits for residents along its route, and the businesses who hire those individuals. More people on mass transit means less vehicular congestion and far less pollution. And in case you missed it: the PATH does not go from one part of JC to another. It goes through numerous municipalities and across state lines. It benefits a broad array of individuals, which means that the costs and responsibility should also be broadly distributed. Quote: Do you really think that people in the NJ area who want to commute to the NYC are the most downtrodden in the USA so much so that the whole country must subsidize their transportation needs? Do you genuinely not understand that mass transportation is a public good? Quote: If not, - then let some private firm build it, and let them charge those who uses it. Wow. Just... wow. The original NYC subways AND the original PATH line were privately built, but that was only possible because government footed a lot of the bill. Despite that early boost, they basically all failed, and got bought out or taken over by various government agencies. Private ownership of public transportation just doesn't work.
Posted on: 2016/6/7 15:03
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Posted on: 2016/6/7 15:01
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Re: Port Authority To Jersey City - Drop Dead
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The reason the Port Authority gets away with so many things, there are no activists attending their meetings. The late Morris Pesin, father of Liberty Park attended their meetings and kept the fare at thirty cents when the Park Authority tried to raised it to fifty cents for many years. He reminded the Port Authority that they made their money on the bridges. Morris said once it goes above thirty cents, they would continue to increase. By the way, there was great service at thirty cents. If you want accountability then attend their meetings, public officials are uncomfortable being questioned.
Posted on: 2016/6/7 14:58
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this is a great point. why not fix up and open the newport ferry terminal and increase service?
Posted on: 2016/6/7 14:49
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Re: Port Authority To Jersey City - Drop Dead
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Posted on: 2016/6/7 14:43
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No but it certainly provides you with an example of how pointless and stupid your analogy is.
Posted on: 2016/6/7 14:40
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Re: Port Authority To Jersey City - Drop Dead
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Also, Newark was a much larger, more economically robust city in 1927 - there's a good chance that ridership wasn't as unidirectional as it is today.
Posted on: 2016/6/7 14:14
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well said, agree.
Posted on: 2016/6/7 14:14
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Posted on: 2016/6/7 14:13
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Seems to me that one solution will be having NYC companies offering up more flex schedules for employees. I get to Newport around 9-915 am and the PATH is not crowded at all. It's not an ideal scenario but it will help.
Posted on: 2016/6/7 13:54
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Personally, I always thought it was simple greed. How else would you explain charging an extra dollar to bring onboard a bicycle!? They now run weekend service for a reduced price ($4) that makes the ferry an attractive alternative on Saturdays and Sundays. Two years ago, when the ferry was price matching the PATH fare on weekends (subsidized by the PA, I believe, to make up for the loss of WTC service) the ferries were often riding full, or even stuffed to the gills. I am sure that if NYW lowered their prices, ridership would go up and the whole thing would be much more profitable.
Posted on: 2016/6/7 13:40
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Re: Port Authority To Jersey City - Drop Dead
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I always thought it was because the ferries were not subsidized like the trains were. I could stomach a $5 ride (with bicycle included) for the ferries, if it meant riding my bike more.
Posted on: 2016/6/7 13:01
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I eat fu*king hipsters and sh*t out fixie bikes.
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Re: Port Authority To Jersey City - Drop Dead
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"Mr. Christie also misstated New Jersey?s share of the costs: he said the state would pay 70 percent of the project; the report found that New Jersey was paying 14.4 percent. And while the governor said that an agreement with the federal government would require the state to pay all cost overruns, the report found that there was no final agreement, and that the federal government had made several offers to share those costs."
Posted on: 2016/6/7 11:57
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+1 Commuters should pay. Subsidies should be limited to pretax programs like http://www.rideeco.org/ - and discounted fares for those on low-income.
Posted on: 2016/6/7 11:54
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@dolomiti, the cost overruns were always on NJ taxpayer backs-100%. Period. The best offer we ever got, even in the cooling off time to renegotiate, was some Federal low interest loans.
Bad deal, rightly squashed. The Tunnel to Macy's Basement didn't happen.
Posted on: 2016/6/7 10:30
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Over 770 Million Indians and 329 Million Chinese people don't have a toilet in their home.. This means basically they shit outside in the street.. Just thought i would share that useless information with you..
Posted on: 2016/6/7 6:41
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Posted on: 2016/6/7 5:38
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I'm not sure why everyone's giving the PA a hard time on this.
In many parts of the country, if a developer wants to build housing or offices or something else he's going to make tens of millions of dollars on, the developer has to contribute to improvements to the roads, installing traffic signals, or other improvements to ensure that the traffic generated by his development doesn't paralyze the transportation system. Why can we not do the same here for our transit system? Developers getting filthy rich by adding hundreds of new commuter colonies should contribute to a fund that finances transit improvements. A $5000 per unit fee times 10,000 units would yield $50 million, which could do something (maybe just a small something) to help with the capacity problem. I doubt the city has engaged the PA in any of the city planning that has allowed these thousands of new units and just assumed the PATH would absorb it all. You can't expect the PA, which loses money on every train it runs to just throw away more money just to be a good pal and support the development feeding frenzy. It would be in the city's best interest to capture some of the value of this development and direct it to securing transit capacity if for no other reason than to protect the value of future development.
Posted on: 2016/6/7 3:53
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