Today's paper reports on the massive transportation funding crisis in New Jersey. This is just one more example of how austerity kills in this country.
I drove the streets in New Jersey a few years ago (I have family there), and some of the streets there were almost as bad as the ones in rural America, where I live. Obviously, the problem has only gotten worse. Not only is the transportation funding crisis getting worse, the paper reports that for the last several months, Governor Chris Christie is sticking his head in the sand as his popularity is plummeting.
Bridges across the state are falling apart. Roads are rife with potholes. Frustrated New Jersey Transit riders are facing another fare increase.
As many commuters bemoan the mounting delays and disruptions, state officials say New Jersey is confronting a transportation funding crisis with no easy way out. Voters are so fed up, support is growing for a revenue option long viewed as politically untenable: raising the state’s gas tax, which is the second lowest in the country.
This is all part of the Bipartisan Consensus (TM) that Thou Shalt Not Oppose Austerity. After all, it would simply create Gridlock, and we can't have that.
In the meantime, Christie's own transportation director is calling him out for sticking his head in the sand:
Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican, has said little in recent months about roads and transit even as his own transportation commissioner, Jamie Fox, has forcefully called for revenue for the state’s depleted transportation trust fund. Despite the governor’s relative silence, the troubles of the state’s transportation agencies have emerged as a grinding issue for him, including the scandal involving his appointees to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the growing backlash over his decision to halt construction of a new rail tunnel under the Hudson River.
Obviously, Mr. Fox does not have any Presidential ambitions. But he would make a far better governor than the current occupant of the New Jersey State Mansion. Mr. Fox has already begun to close bridges throughout the state that are not safe; he is doing all he can in that regard. But there is only so much the New Jersey DOT can do in the Age of Austerity (TM). One of these days, a bridge is going to collapse and people are going to be killed. How many dead bodies do we need to realize that austerity kills? The governors of both New York and Connecticut are at least coming up with constructive ideas for improving transportation in their states. Governor Christie -- nothing.
New Jersey has one of the lowest gas taxes in the nation. Previously, people were hostile to the idea of raising them. But now, the people of New Jersey have spoken -- the state (50% support according to the article) is ready for a gas tax increase in order to pay for needed infrastructure upgrades and repairs.
If the state does not act, things will only get worse. The article notes that Amtrak is recommending the closure of the New Jersey Transit tunnels in order to repair damage from Hurricane Sandy. That would create a transportation nightmare that would dwarf the one created by Christie's George Washington Bridge Scandal. But given Governor Christie's head in the sand attitude towards the transportation situation in New Jersey, he has apparently decided that it is now time for even more traffic problems.
