Background on the DRPA/PATCO
The Delaware River Port Authority is a public corporate instrumentality of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the State of New Jersey created with the consent of Congress by compact legislation enacted by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the State of New Jersey. The Authority was created in 1952 as a successor to the Delaware River Joint Commission, which was created in 1931. In 1931, its role was to construct and operate the Delaware River Bridge (now the Ben Franklin Bridge) linking the two states in order to enhance commerce. Since the Authority’s creation in 1952, the two States and Congress have amended the Compact on several occasions in order to carry out major transportation projects such as the construction of the Port Authority Transit Corporation (PATCO) and, notably, the Walt Whitman, Commodore Barry and Betsy Ross Bridges.
The Authority is governed by a 16-member Board of Commissioners. The Governor of New Jersey appoints eight commissioners with the advice and consent of the Senate of New Jersey. The Governor of Pennsylvania appoints six commissioners, with the Auditor General and State Treasurer of Pennsylvania serving as ex-officio commissioners for Pennsylvania. Commissioners serve five-year terms without compensation. The Board of Commissioners establishes policy and plans for the operations of the Authority. A Chief Executive Officer is appointed by the Board of Commissioners to implement policy and to manage the daily operations of the Authority. The DRPA Port District comprises the counties of Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Ocean and Salem in New Jersey and the counties of Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia in Pennsylvania.
The Authority is vested with the ownership, control, operation and collection of tolls and revenues of the Ben Franklin, Walt Whitman, Commodore Barry and Betsy Ross bridges. The Authority has also constructed and owns a high-speed transit system which his operated by the Authority’s wholly-owned subsidiary, PATCO. The transit system operates over 14 miles between Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Lindenwold, New Jersey. The Authority owns the 600-passenger RiverLink Ferry and contracts out its operation in a competitive bidding operation. The ferry crosses the Delaware River, connecting passengers with the Camden, NJ and Penn’s Landing, Philadelphia, PA waterfronts daily between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
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