Phil Murphy said it was indicative of the kind of leadership Christie had offered, and noted the Republican governor had single-handedly killed a previous tunnel project in 2010 because of concerns over cost-overruns. | AP Photo Murphy slams Christie's Gateway fee proposal, stops short of saying he'll spike plan

NEW BRUNSWICK — New Jersey Gov.-elect Phil Murphy on Thursday slammed a proposal by Gov. Chris Christie that would institute a new fee on NJ Transit commuters to pay for the state’s share of the Gateway rail tunnel, joining other Democrats in opposing the plan.

“This is the type of deal that tells you a lot about why people are frustrated with politics,” Murphy said, speaking to several hundreds volunteers and staff members at a hotel in New Brunswick. “You wait until the last minute to take action and then you settle for some rule that’s been cut in some backroom somewhere, so that one politician or another gets a ‘win’ without regard to the impact that it may have on the residents who foot the bill.”


But the governor-elect, a Democrat, gave no clear indication of whether he would block the proposed fees, saying only that he’ll “review” the plan to see if there is a way to fund the massive project while also providing “relief to our commuters.”

“If there is, we will pursue it,” Murphy said.

The proposal in question is part of a deal to have New Jersey and New York contribute $5.6 billion toward the proposed Gateway rail tunnel, covering half the cost of the project. The funds would initially come from low-cost federal loans and be paid back over time.

The new agreement, announced by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, comes as the White House prepared to release a $1 trillion infrastructure plan and puts the onus on the administration to pledge funding for the remainder of the Gateway project.

New Jersey would fund its $1.9 billion share of the project through the new fees, which would be paid by NJ Transit train riders headed into and out of Manhattan and used to pay back the loans over several decades.

The fee, which riders would pay each way, is projected to start out at 90 cents in 2020 and increase to $1.70 in 2028 and $2.20 in 2038, according to a letter from NJ Transit Executive Director Steve Santoro. For daily commuters, that would amount to an increase approaching $40 a month in the first year and $95 by 2038.

Murphy, who takes office Jan. 16, said it was indicative of the kind of leadership Christie had offered, and noted the Republican governor had single-handedly killed a previous tunnel project in 2010 because of concerns over cost-overruns. Why, the governor-elect asked, has it taken this long to find funding for an alternative?

“He set us back at least a decade and many billions of dollars,” Murphy said. “And now it seems like we’re going to have to pay for that gab by further raising fares on commuters who are already dealing with some of the highest commuting fares in the United States.”

The lame-duck deal from Christie puts Murphy in a significant political bind. By the time the fees hit, Christie will be long gone and many commuters may look to Murphy for someone to blame — and just as he’s facing reelection. NJ Transit riders have already seen fare increases of more than 30 percent under Christie.

But if Murphy wants to stop the plan, he’ll need to find another way to produce the revenue. In New York, the state’s $1.75 billion share of the total cost will be paid out of the state’s general fund, according to a letter from Cuomo budget director Robert Mujica Jr.

Some say that’s a better approach — that it spreads out the burden and avoids putting the entire cost on one group of people.

Nick Sifuentes, executive director of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, said he welcomed news of the deal but said it also offered “a tale of two states and two approaches to funding critically important infrastructure projects.”

Cuomo’s approach anticipates “that the benefits to New York far outweigh the costs,” Sifuentes said in a statement. Christie, however, “has decided to make NJ Transit riders shoulder the entire cost of a project. He said the state needs to find “a fairer way to fund Gateway construction that doesn’t ask daily commuters to pay for every penny of New Jersey’s contribution to the Gateway project.”

But Tom Wright, who leads the Regional Plan Association, said he thinks it makes sense for commuters to pay some sort of fee toward the cost of the project — even if the burden is ultimately spread out to other areas.

“Gateway is going to benefit more than just the commuters, so I would be pushing for a more diversified funding stream,” Wright said in an interview before Murphy’s remarks in New Brunswick. “But I think it’s important to recognize that everybody is going to have to pay for this, and the commuters should be paying more for the better service that they’re going to get.”

Democratic lawmakers in New Jersey slammed the proposal.

State Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg called the fee proposal “absolutely disgraceful” and Christie’s “parting gift.” Assemblyman John McKeon, who chairs the Judiciary Committee and represents numerous bedroom communities in North Jersey, said he was “appalled” and called the proposal “outrageous.”

“This is yet another part of Gov. Christie’s legacy cemented in traffic problems for all of us,” McKeon said in a statement.

Some of Christie’s Republican allies in the Legislature praised the plan. State Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean Jr., who also represents some towns along NJ Transit’s commuter lines, sent out a statement calling the deal “great news for New Jersey commuters.”

“We’re going to get the new infrastructure built that we sorely need, and we’re going to save New Jersey’s taxpayers and farepayers billions of dollars over older proposals,” Kean said. “It looks like a fair plan for everyone, which is something you don’t often see.”