gokeefe wrote:Completely agreed. A surcharge for all passengers using the tunnels would be highly appropriate and permit Federal loan guarantees and/or private bonding.
Sounds reasonable! Let us do some math....(FY 2017 as posted by Wiki)
Yearly NJT ridership for NYC Pennsylvania Station = 27,296,100
Yearly Amtrak ridership for NYC Pennsylvania Station = 10,397,729
Assuming all Amtrak riders use the tunnels under the Hudson River (which Is not true) -
Total riders using these tunnels are 37,693,829.
In 30 years that would add up to a total of 1,130,815,000, for simplicity let us round that up to 1.131 Billion.
Depending upon how much the new tunnels would cost, and assuming the surcharge would pay the costs to build the new tunnel in 30 years, each rider would have to pay the following surcharge;
$10 Billion / 1.131 = $8.84
$15 Billion / 1.131 = $13.26
$20 Billion / 1.131 = $17.68
$25 Billion / 1.131 = $22.10
That’s before taking into account for an increase in ridership year after year,.
But I believe it is okay to assume ridership through the tunnels would not double. I doubt Pennsylvania Station could handle a doubling of ridership without expansion, another cost to calculate a surcharge for.
I do not think NJT could charge a $13 surcharge each way ($26 a day) in addition to regular fares.
I also wish to add how important it is for construction projects to finish on time and on budget.