Final round of toll hikes a crossroads for Port Authority

The disconnect, in Degnan's words, between what the bistate agency will need to spend and the revenue model it has operated under up to now is forcing the Port Authority to take a hard look at raising revenue from other sources, including its extensive — and sometimes underutilized — real estate holdings.

Not surprisingly, the increases generated considerable backlash among motorists when they were approved, and a General Accounting Office report later chided the Port Authority for not holding enough public hearings and making those it did hold inconvenient to attend.

Some criticized the increases for being used to funnel money away from the Port Authority's core transportation mission and toward projects like the World Trade Center redevelopment, a charge agency officials denied.

Five years and five toll hikes later, we still seek answers as to how much money the toll increases have raised and where the money is going as the Port Authority embarks on building a vitally important trans-Hudson rail tunnel and Manhattan bus terminal.