A new report from the New Jersey legislature says the McGreevey administration has shifted $180 million from the transportation trust fund — meant to provide capital funding — into the state’s general fund and NJ Transit’s operating budget, according to the Star-Ledger.

Some of Transit’s capital budget has been shifted to cover operating expenses for several years now,. In February, we reported that NJ Transit would shift $260 million from capital to operating, similar to the shift seen in FY2003 (MTR #402).

It’s unclear how that amount relates to the findings in last week’s report by the NJ Office of Legislative Services. Some of the money identified in the report may be NJ DOT funds, and not all of the money shifted into NJ Transit’s operating budget may come from the state trust fund.

In any event, the report points again to the perilous state of transportation capital spending in New Jersey. This must be addressed when the governor and legislature take up reauthorization of the state transportation trust fund next year. NJ Transit chief George Warrington has said deferred maintenance is already showing up in deteriorating station conditions. It will show up in additional places on the roads and rails unless the state’s leaders stop the capital budget bleeding very soon. 

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