NORTH BERGEN – The board of NJ Transit voted on Wednesday to increase the rent they pay on a Port Authority-owned park and ride lot in North Bergen, from a controversial $1 per year to a market rate of $875,000.
The annual lease payment had been $907,000 until February 2012, when it was dropped to $1 per year under PA Chairman David Samson.
At the time, concerns were raised that the deal represented a conflict of interest, since Samson’s law firm, then known as Wolff & Samson, had been retained since late 2010 by NJ Transit to help them maximize profits in their park and ride lots. The deal saved NJ Transit over $900,000 per year.
Samson subsequently resigned from his position at the Port Authority in the wake of the George Washington Bridge lane closure scandal, amid investigations into his potential conflicts as chairman.
The lease has now been renegotiated to $875,000 annually through 2018, with the funds rising by 1.5-percent a year for a total contract value of $2.6 million.
The 14-acre park and ride lot is located at the intersection of Routes 495 and 3 and has 750 parking spaces. Commuters pay $9.50 to park in the lot and ride a bus to the Port Authority terminal in Manhattan.
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