Transportation Solutions News

“In recent toll road deals the public’s been taken for a ride,” said NJPIRG Legislative Advocate Abigail Caplovitz Field. “It’s not enough to make vague promises to protect the public. Some things have to be taken off the table.”

NJPIRG’s research of other toll road monetizations has revealed five principles that must be met for the deal to have a chance of being in the public interest: public control, fair value, a reasonable deal length, state of the art maintenance and safety, and a transparent and accountable deal making process. Because of New Jersey’s history of budget gimmicks—a history driving the consideration of monetization—NJPIRG has added a sixth: fiscally responsible use of the proceeds.

“If the Governor’s serous about protecting the public, he will commit to our principles,” said Field. “If any of the six are violated, monetization will be a bad deal for New Jerseyans.”

Although the Governor’s office has be receptive to many of the principles, to date they have refused to take the pledge. In response, today NJPIRG launched a petition drive at www.njpirg.org calling on the Governor to take the pledge.

“We urge all New Jerseyans to sign the petition and send a message to the Governor: selling our roads can’t mean selling out New Jerseyans. Take the pledge.”