It Ain’t Over til the Fat Lady Sings for the $33 Billion Gateway Project
There is more to do after Governors Murphy and Hochul Sign A MOU for funding the $33 billion Gateway Project before the Federal Transit Administration will enter into negotiations with the project sponsor to approve a $14 billion Capital Investment Grant (CIG) Full Funding Grant Agreement (FFGA). This would pay for two new tunnels plus rehabilitation of the existing tunnels damaged by Super Storm Sandy. Who will oversee engineering, contractors and procurement? Will it be the Gateway Development Corporation, NJ Transit, Amtrak or the Port Authority?

To win an FTA FFGA, any project needs documentation that the billions in matching local share is secured, along with an approved Project Management Plan (technical capacity), Quality Assurance and Quality Control Plan (monitors that the contractor builds to the design and engineering specifications), Fleet Management Plan, Annual Force Account (Amtrak and NJ Transit employees who work with and provide support to third party contractors) and Annual Track Outage Plan. Also needed is approval for Title VI, Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO), Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) programs.
All must be reviewed and approved by FTA to insure that this record investment is completed on time, within budget, built to the design and engineering specifications so that it will remain in beneficial use for the promised intended life.
Is the GDC, Amtrak, NJ Transit, Governors Murphy and Hochul prepared to pay for the unanticipated inevitable cost overruns? There is also contract change orders due to unforseen site conditions and last-minute scope changes. How much money is budgeted under project contingency to pay for these costs?

Have they updated the overall project budget to account for this year’s 8% inflation rate? What about ongoing supply chain issues, rising material costs and labor shortages especially in special trades such as tunnel boring needed for this project. Has this been incorporated into the latest proposed budget and schedule?

Sincerely,

Larry Penner
Retired, Former Director
Federal Transit Administration NY Region
Office of Operations and Program Management

(Larry Penner — transportation advocate, historian and writer who previously worked for the Federal Transit Administration Region 2 New York Office. This included the development, review, approval and oversight for billions in capital projects and programs for NJ Transit, New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, NYC Transit bus, subway and Staten Island Railway, Long Island and Metro North Rail Roads, MTA Bus, NYCDOT Staten Island Ferry along with 30 other transit agencies in NY & NJ.)

We’ve Been Duped Again!
Now that things are returning back to normal from the pandemic, I am left to wonder how many people were laid off from city, county, state, and federal agencies during the epidemic. While many in the private sector lost jobs and medical coverage, I’ll bet those who worked for the aforementioned were getting paid full salaries with benefits, receiving paid vacation time, and accruing pension time. If questioned, I’m sure they will say they were working remotely and were kept busy (wink, wink) and that taxpayers were justified in keeping them on their various payrolls. Actually, we should all be irate!!! I wised up a long time ago, and it’s about time everybody else does as well! As taxpayers we don’t owe anyone a living, especially when they are doing nothing or next to nothing. Yes, it seems as if we’ve been duped again! Cities, states, and the federal government could’ve saved millions!

Thank you!
The Honorable
Michael Rusznak