New Jersey ranks third in per capita personal income among the states, and New York fourth. They are big net contributors to the federal budget. Unfortunately, the lesson of the recent past — with respect to taxes and transit both — is that the two states can’t count on their taxes making a round trip back from Washington.

The states and the city have too much at stake to sit on the sidelines while the Trump administration ignores their needs. They need to evaluate how they can proceed without a federal partner. That means considering new revenue sources, as well as pushing for more efficient construction management and reordering other capital spending to emphasize transportation. How could the states generate more revenue? I would suggest a new tax on real estate pass-through entities, exactly offsetting the cuts in the recent tax legislation passed by Congress.

To solve the twin problems of the existing Hudson River tunnels and Penn Station capacity, the region can’t permit its agenda to be set by Amtrak, which is focused on the needs of the entire Northeast Corridor, not the commuter services operated by New Jersey Transit. As Ms. Williams notes, nine out of 10 Hudson River rail passengers are commuters. Commuters should be the priority.

Decision makers should also reconsider an earlier project called Access to the Region’s Core, that was canceled by Chris Christie when he was governor of New Jersey. There is a strong argument that it is a better solution because it provides both two new tunnels under the Hudson and a station extension under West 34th Street rather than 31st Street, giving New Jersey commuters a shorter connection to major West Side subway lines. While some changes will be necessary because of the passage of time, building the ARC project, rather than the Hudson Tunnel project, could get New Jersey Transit its needed capacity increase while putting its passengers in the right location.

The federal funding environment is not hopeless. Should future elections change the political balance in Congress, the two states’ Democratic senators may have more ability to deliver reimbursement for the states’ and city’s investment. The first priority, however, should be to get a project moving in the limited time we have.