"Sad Jersey Commuter" is trying to raise $920M for Portal Bridge through a GoFundMe campaign
One New Jersey commuter is hoping to tap into the shared frustration (and wallets) of fellow daily travelers with a GoFundMe campaign seeking to raise $920 million for the replacement of the Portal Bridge; a swing-span that carries 450 trains per day across New Jersey's Hackensack River.
"We, the residents, commuters and visitors of New Jersey, are taking matters into our own hands. We will no longer stand idly by and continue to suffer substandard public transportation," the campaign's organizer "Sad Jersey Commuter" writes.
The 108-year-old Portal Bridge's aging mechanical components are known to malfunction when the bridge opens and closes to allow maritime traffic to pass and cause headaches for commuter between Newark, N.J., and New York Penn Station.
Project partners New Jersey Transit, Amtrak, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the U.S. Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) have planned a two-track replacement bridge designed to be a high-level, fixed-span bridge, which eliminates the movable components and risk of malfunction. The new bridge is estimated to cost approximately $1.5 billion. Preliminary design costs of $31 million were shared between Amtrak and New Jersey Transit with the final design being funded by a $38.5 million grant from the FRA. According to the project's website, the partners are currently developing a funding and financing plan so that construction can proceed as soon as possible.
But not as soon as "Sad Jersey Commuter" would like. As of Dec. 3, following four days of the campaign being live, $20 of the $920 million goal had been raised including $5 from "Anonymous FrustratedCommuter."
"Together, we the people can own 50 percent of this bridge and start to reclaim our travel," Sad Jersey Commuter concludes on the fundraising page.
Mischa Wanek-Libman | Group Editorial Director
Mischa Wanek-Libman is director of communications with Transdev North America. She has more than 20 years of experience working in the transportation industry covering construction projects, engineering challenges, transit and rail operations and best practices.
Wanek-Libman has held top editorial positions at freight rail and public transportation business-to-business publications including as editor-in-chief and editorial director of Mass Transit from 2018-2024. She has been recognized for editorial excellence through her individual work, as well as for collaborative content.
She is an active member of the American Public Transportation Association's Marketing and Communications Committee and served 14 years as a Board Observer on the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association (NRC) Board of Directors.
She is a graduate of Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism and Mass Communication.
