Port Authority Board OKs 10-Year, $45B Capital Plan

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s Board of Commissioners has approved a record $45 billion 2026–2035 capital plan, continuing funding for major initiatives begun under the 2017–2025 plan as well as advancing what the agency calls “a new generation of projects” that will modernize, strengthen and expand its infrastructure around the region.

The centerpiece of the approved plan is the new Midtown Bus Terminal, designed to provide faster access to the Lincoln Tunnel, reduce congestion on city streets and support the transition to all-electric fleet. 

At Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, N.J, the plan calls for establishing a public-private partnership to design and build a new Terminal B, and develop a new AirTrain transit system. The ongoing program of upgrades at John F. Kennedy International Airport  in Queens, N.Y. will continue as well, including doubling capacity of the AirTrain JFK system with state-of-the-art new train cars.

Also over the next decade, the Port Authority plans to tap more than $1.2 billion in private investments to modernize and expand container terminal operations and infrastructure at its seaport, and complete the World Trade Center campus in Manhattan with buildouts of Tower 2 and Tower 5. The approved 2026-2035 Capital Plan also includes the agency’s $2.7 billion contribution to the Gateway Program, the comprehensive rehabilitation of the George Washington Bridge between New Jersey and Manhattan and extensive rehabilitations of two other Hudson River crossings, the Lincoln Tunnel Helix and Outerbridge Crossing.

Spending on the new capital plan will begin next year with an allocation of $4 billion from the Port Authority’s 2026 annual budget, which the board also approved on Dec. 18. Representing an 11% increase from 2025, the spending will be directed toward the JFK and Newark airport projects and the new bus terminal; improvements to the PATH transit system’s railcar fleet and 117-year-old track infrastructure; airport solar power projects; and ongoing agency-wide efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and safeguard critical infrastructure from impacts of more frequent and severe storms and sea level rise as a result of climate change.