Bi-State Transit District Proposed Commission, in Final Report, Also Urges Commuter 'Loop'

New York — (AP) — The Metropolitan Rapid Transit Commission has recommended the creation of a bi-state Metropolitan Transit District to implement any general transit plan for the New York-New Jersey area.

In its final report to the Governors and Legislatures of the two states yesterday, the Commission envisioned this transit district as being initially made up of 32 representatives from three New York and 10 New Jersey counties.

These would be chosen on the basis of one representative for each 500,000 of population, while the district itself would be managed by a seven-man board of directors.

New Jersey counties represented would be Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Passaic, Somerset and Union, while the New York State counties involved would be New York, Orange and Rockland.

The commission said that only upon completion of a general plan and approval of it by both states should the district be given powers to acquire, construct and operate rapid transit facilities.

Loop Advocated

As expected, the commission urged approval of a new rapid transit loop to speed commuter traffic between Manhattan and New Jersey.

Calling this “the most feasible” plan, the commission said the “most urgent need” was for improved rail service across the Hudson River between 60th Street and the Battery to serve New Jersey commuters who work in Manhattan.

The proposed new subway loop would include tunnels to Manhattan at 59th St. and the Battery, with a new line under Madison and Fifth Avenues. Under terms of the plan, this would be augmented by a modernized Downtown line of the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad.

The capital cost of the modernization and new construction has been estimated by commission consultants to run about $500,000,000.

Open to Connecticut

The commission said the compact establishing a Metropolitan Transit District “would provide that Connecticut can join on suitable terms if it so requests.”

The commission report noted that the New York-New Jersey-Connecticut metropolitan area comprises as many as 22 counties and more than 500 individual municipalities. The area will have a combined population of more than 19,000,000 by 1975, the commission estimates.

The group recommended the proposed new district should carry out its work through an annual appropriation of $150,000 for each state until it was in a position to raise its own funds.

The financial returns on the recommended new loop and modernization would depend on the fares charged, the commission said.

Deficit Estimated

It estimated that with 85,100,000 fares, there would be an annual deficit of $2,300,000, after fixed charges, if the loop rate was 35 cents and the H&M fare 30 cents. With a 25 cent fare on each and 95,570,000 fares, the deficit was estimated at $7,000,000.

While urging adoption of the transit loop plan, the Commission said it was not excluding consideration of any other plans as alternatives.

The commission also noted that its project director, Arthur W. Page, had proposed a loop plan using the BMT-Broadway subway as the Manhattan leg. The report added, however, that a statement by New York City Transit Authority Chairman Charles L. Patterson that the BMT subway could not absorb the additional traffic “was quietly dismissed.”

The Commission was created in June, 1954. It received $800,000 from the Port of New York Authority for use on the interstate part of the study and $150,000 each from New Jersey and New York for the intrastate transit study.