A Port Authority That Works

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has been a vital force in the physical and economic growth of the New York-New Jersey region. During the past few years, however, public attention has focused on the Port Authority’s spending, management, and political interference in the agency’s operations. In recent weeks, several sources have called for reform, restructuring, or even abolition of the Port Authority.

However, the critical problem facing the Port Authority today is not mismanagement, political abuse, or rivalry between New York and New Jersey. The fundamental challenge is that the business model under which the Authority has operated for the past thirty years is no longer sustainable. For the New York-New Jersey region to grow over the next fifty years, the Port Authority must rethink not only how it manages its business, but also how it defines what that business is.