The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey announced plans today to extend PATH from its current terminal at Newark Penn Station to Newark Liberty International Airport. The project—which I’ve long thought of as low-hanging fruit that could yield enormous benefits for Lower Manhattan, the airport, and the region—will, for the first time, offer travelers a one-seat train ride from the airport to the growing residential and commercial district on the southern tip of Manhattan. Joe Sitt, chairman of the Global Gateway Alliance, a nonprofit working to improve the New York City region’s woefully inadequate airports, highlighted the benefits in a statement quoted by The Wall Street Journal:
Extending PATH from the World Trade Center stop directly to Newark Airport is affordable. … It is doable, requiring a less than two mile track extension from Newark Penn Station, rather than having to dig a new tunnel or build flyovers. It is good for New York. It is good for New Jersey. But most of all, it’s good for residents, businesses and visitors alike and will help bring us into the league of other world class cities with modern mass transportation to airports.
The project is part of the Port Authority’s 10-year, $27.6 billion capital plan, which includes other improvements to PATH, the airports, and port facilities, as well as completing redevelopment of the World Trade Center site.
Read more
“Port Authority Funds PATH Link to Newark Airport” by Ted Mann
wsj.com, 4 February 2014
Photo
PATH trains at Journal Square, 1 August 2011
By Paul Lowry via Flickr, CC BY 2.0
Dustin Tyler Joyce 