Lawmakers call on Port Authority to maintain overnight PATH service

JERSEY CITY (WABC) -- Local, state and federal lawmakers came together in New Jersey Monday to try to shut down a proposal to end overnight service on PATH trains between New York City and northern New Jersey.

A report over the holidays said both Governor Andrew Cuomo and Governor Chris Christie have approved a plan to eliminate overnight PATH service between 1 and 5 a.m.

The Port Authority said the proposal is one of many cost-cutting measures under consideration.

"Let's face it. This is a terrible idea," said Dawn Zimmer, Hoboken Mayor.

The proposal is to shut down PATH service from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m., 7 days a week.

"We live in a 24/7 global economy. The global economy doesn't stop at 1 a.m.," said Sen. Bob Menendez, (D) New Jersey.

And what about the workers who build that economic structure?

"It's going to affect maintenance workers, health care workers," said Steven Fulop, Jersey City Mayor.

"And denying them mass transit opportunities to get to work, is denying them a job," Sen. Menendez said.

The Port Authority says the cuts in service would save about $10 million a year and affect about 390,000 riders.

"I think it's going to be horrible for me and people who work 1 a.m. to 4p.m.," said Marlon Hernandez, a Jersey City resident.

"Bad idea for people who work overnight," said Dorothy Sanders, a Jersey City resident.

North Jersey cities like Jersey City and Hoboken are on growing spurts, attracting new businesses and homeowners. Their mayors saying even the possibility of PATH cuts could be fatal to that expansion.

"We push public transportation. What's the sense of pushing it if we are going to take it away?" said NJ Sen. Nicholas Sacco, (D) 32.

Port Authority Chairman John Degnan said in part in a statement, "curtailment of PATH service would be a last resort and it would be done only after consultation with local public officials and public hearings to be sure the Port Authority Board understands the impact."

Leaders at the rally clearly want any talk of cutting PATH service off the table before any public hearings are announced.

PATH, operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, carries an estimated 73 million riders annually but revenue per rider is low compared to other transit systems around the country.

The report says changes are needed because ridership is declining and revenue is low compared with other train lines.

The panel says a private operator may be able to run the trains more efficiently.

The report notes that the PATH fare of $2.75 per ride is the same no matter how far its passengers travel, unlike other commuter rails systems that charge based on how far riders go.

That could be one reason that fares cover 40% of the cost of running the trains - far below the 65% average of the 50 biggest heavy rail train systems across the country.

The report says that less than 1 percent of the rides each weekday are between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m., and suggests that eliminating that overnight service would mean savings without harming many riders. Only three other commuter train systems in the U.S. operate around the clock.

(The Associated Press contributed to this story.)