Christie vetoes DRPA free rides

Gov. Christie on Thursday widened his war on free rides by employees of government authorities, banning such trips at the Delaware River Port Authority and five other agencies.

The move is likely to be contested by the workers' unions, which have negotiated free rides as a benefit in their labor contracts for many years.

Christie vetoed the action of the DRPA board taken Wednesday to reinstate free commutes for employees, and to restore the 100 free trips for personal use to workers whose contracts provided for such trips.

"Authority employees, commissioners, officers and retirees should not receive free bridge passage or PATCO rides simply by virtue of their employment at the Authority, when these perks are not available to the toll-paying public," Christie wrote in his veto letter Thursday. All workers and retirees "should pay for their personal, nonbusiness use of DRPA/PATCO facilities, just as the Authority requires of its customers."

He sent similar letters to other authorities that operate bridges or turnpikes, telling them to eliminate the use of free E-ZPass trips "and other forms of free passage that are not available to the general public."

The directive was sent to the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, which operates the turnpike and the Garden State Parkway; the South Jersey Transportation Authority, which operates the Atlantic City Expressway; the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates six bridges and tunnels, the PATH trains and other facilities; the Delaware River Bay Authority, which operates the Delaware Memorial Bridge; and the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission, which operates the I-78 toll bridge across the Delaware and six other toll bridges.

The directive was not sent to NJ Transit, whose employees get free rides on the agency's trains. Christie's office said Friday the order was aimed at agencies that use E-ZPass.

"We will also be evaluating all free-passage benefits at any other relevant agencies,"  Michael Drewniak, the governor's spokesman, said in an e-mail.

DRPA spokesman Ed Kasuba said, "We acknowledge receipt of the governor's veto message, and we will comply."

Representatives of the unions representing toll collectors and other employees could not be reached immediately Thursday. But two unions, representing DRPA police and toll collectors, had filed formal grievances against the DRPA last month, seeking the restoration of the free rides that were included in their contracts.

Labor officials said earlier this week they were confident the free rides would be restored by arbitrators or court judges, because the benefit, like wages or health care insurance, was part of their contracts.

And DRPA chief executive John Matheussen acknowledged as much on Wednesday, when the DRPA board moved to restore the free rides. He said he was ruling in favor of the police and toll collector unions on their grievances because of the contractual provisions.