This week, Mayor Giuliani blasted Port Authority pricing arrangements that charge low fees to NJ Transit buses using the PA's midtown Manhattan bus terminal. The Mayor said the fees should be raised, and cited the fee structure as evidence of his long-standing theme that the Port Authority favors New Jersey at New York's expense.

The NY Post reported that NJ Transit pays 11% of fees collected by the bus terminal, but transports 53% of passengers using the terminal. The Post also reported that Governor Pataki wants the NJ Transit fees hiked, and NY PA Commissioners (appointed by Pataki) were cited to that effect in published reports this week.

Seemingly lost on New York's leaders is that low transit fares from New Jersey to Manhattan are good for the city's environment and business climate, especially with city traffic levels going through the roof.

And viewed in the context of the Port Authority's overall budget, the issue is ridiculous. If NJ Transit were to pay fees commensurate with its share of passengers, it would pay an extra $10.6 million per year. But consider that the Port Authority brings in about $500 million per year in bridge and tunnel toll revenues. If the issue is fairness, then waive all bus company fees and support the terminal entirely from tolls. Minimizing car traffic with high bus ridership yields a direct payoff to motorists and truckers.

Also this week, the bus terminal issue mutated into another of Mayor Giuliani's attacks on the $1 PATH train fare. Here again, the budgetary stakes are quite low in Port Authority terms. At 1996 ridership levels, a 25% PATH fare hike would bring in around $15 million per year. Last fall, the Tri-State Campaign estimated that the PA's policy of offering toll discounts to all EZ-Pass users was costing the agency about the same amount.

The good news is that NJ Transportation chief John Haley and spokepersons for Governor Whitman say NJ is likely to veto any PA proposal that would hike PATH or NJ Transit fares. NY's leaders should drop the blame-NJ politics and find practical ways to use the Port Authority to help bust gridlock in NY (one way is to have the PA contribute to the next MTA capital plan, an arrangement that has succeeded in the past).