New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund Authority - NJDOT/NJ TRANSIT Capital Program

From fiscal year 2012 through 2016, the State’s Capital Program will be supplemented with an amount not to exceed $1.8 billion from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ), primarily to reconstruct the Pulaski Skyway and Wittpenn Bridge facilities that feed traffic into the Holland Tunnel. The Port Authority funding, which is outlined in a formal agreement between NJDOT and the PANYNJ, is provided to NJDOT on a reimbursement basis. Together, the TTF and PANYNJ support the New Jersey Transportation Capital Plan which authorizes a total of $1.6 billion in new projects each year. As planned, the respective TTF and PANYNJ portions of the program are outlined below:

Fiscal Year	TTF	PANYNJ	Total
2012	$1,247 million	$343 million	$1,590 million
2013	$1,247 million	$353 million	$1,600 million
2014	$1,224 million	$376 million	$1,600 million
2015	$1,225 million	$375 million	$1,600 million
2016	$1,247 million	$353 million	$1,600 million
Five-Year Total	$6,190 million	$1,800 million	$7,990 million

Capital resources from the TTF that are made available in the Special Transportation Fund are allocated to various NJDOT, NJ Transit, and Local Aid projects.

A review of the NJDOT/NJ TRANSIT Capital Program Appropriation History shows how funds have been distributed between NJDOT, NJ TRANSIT, and Local Aid since 1985 and reveals that the annual program has increased from only $249 million at Trust Fund inception to approximately $1.3 billion currently.

NJDOT and NJ TRANSIT must also prepare a State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) each year for approval by the three Federal Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) that cover the State of New Jersey. The STIP provides a list of all federal and state funded projects planned for the next three fiscal years within expected Federal and State resource levels.

The MPO's must specifically approve projects programmed for Federal funds in order for the projects to be authorized for advancement by the Federal Highway Administration.

The appropriation of funds from the Special Transportation Fund to NJDOT, NJ TRANSIT, and Local Aid are separate and distinct from the Legislature's appropriation of transportation revenues (e.g., motor fuels tax, good driver surcharges, etc.) to the Transportation Trust Fund Authority. The capital project appropriations from the Special Transportation Fund function like a credit card with a limit which allows NJDOT and NJ TRANSIT to issue contracts and purchase orders for projects.

The Authority acts as the credit card bank by reimbursing project vendors from its appropriations and bond proceeds as invoices are submitted. Since most major projects take several years to complete, the Authority must translate the contract values reflected in the capital project lists to actual cash flow payments to the vendors.