New Jersey’s commission on transportation finance, appointed by Governor McGreevey, issued its report this morning, calling for a 12.5-cent increase in the state gas tax. The commission calls for increasing the NJDOT and NJ Transit combined annual capital program to $3.1 billion, $520 million more than the FY2004 level. The additional money would pay for infrastructure repair, but could also be used for a road capacity program designed to "alleviate heavy traffic." It also calls for occasional NJ Transit fare increases. Over ten years, the commission recommends spending:

· $1 billion to rehab 15,000 highway lane-miles.

· $7 billion to eliminate the bridge repair backlog.

· $4.9 billion to restore the NJ Transit system to state-of-good-repair.

· $360 million for rail freight improvements.

· $5.5 billon to "alleviate heavy traffic."

The Asbury Park Press has launched a campaign against any increase in New Jersey’s gas tax, urging citizens to mail in coupons and otherwise contact Governor McGreevey to "deliver some choice words" against a tax hike increase. The paper says there is too much waste and corruption in state government to warrant a major increase.

Other newspapers have been more circumspect about the issue. The Star-Ledger has stated broad support for raising more money for transportation, while warning against a piecemeal approach that has the state coming back to citizens for revenue increases every few years. The Courier-News noted that New Jersey has a relatively low state gas tax, but raised a number of questions about how the money will be used: Which projects? Repair or new construction? Where are the details?

The commission report may be a starting point for the answers, but it is unclear for now how much of its recommendations Governor McGreevey will embrace, what other revenue will be needed to meet the commission’s spending targets and what sort of transit fare increases it is really looking at. Critically important is whether a spending plan offered to the public will be guaranteed by including it in the constitutional amendment to dedicate the new revenue to the state transportation trust fund.

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