Delaware River Port Authority

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Delaware River Port Authority of Pennsylvania and New Jersey
AbbreviationDRPA
FormationJuly 17, 1951
TypeBi-state authority Congressionally-approved interstate compact entity
Headquarters One Port Center
Camden, New Jersey, U.S.
Region served
Pennsylvania and New Jersey, including Philadelphia, Camden, and its surrounding regions
Chairman
Jim Schultz [1]
Chief executive officer
John T. Hanson
Website drpa.org

The Delaware River Port Authority (DRPA), officially the Delaware River Port Authority of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, is a bi-state agency instrumentality created by a congressionally approved interstate compact between the state governments of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The authority is principally charged to maintain and develop transportation links between the two states with four bridges and a mass transit rail line across the Delaware River. Though the DRPA has "port" in its name, it does not own or operate any ports.

Contents

History

DRPA's flag Flag of the Delaware River Port Authority of Pennsylvania and New Jersey.svg
DRPA's flag

In 1919, the Pennsylvania and New Jersey legislatures approved the creation of the Delaware River Bridge Joint Commission. The first meeting was held on December 12, 1919, with Pennsylvania and New Jersey commissioners. On July 1, 1926, the first bridge opened before a crowd of over 25,000 people. It was named the "Delaware River Bridge", and following the ceremony, over 100,000 people participated in the inaugural walk. United States President Calvin Coolidge came to dedicate the bridge the next day. At this time, political support existed for a regional governing body for a port authority and the construction of another bridge and a high-speed rail line. On July 17, 1951, United States President Harry S. Truman signed a bill that created the Delaware River Port Authority. In 1953, construction started on a new bridge to connect South Philadelphia and Gloucester City. In 1955, the existing bridge was renamed Benjamin Franklin Bridge, while the name Walt Whitman Bridge was approved for the new bridge that would open in 1957. By 1966, two more bridges were approved: the Commodore Barry Bridge (opened February 1, 1974) and the Betsy Ross Bridge (opened April 30, 1976). In 1974 and 1990, the Ben Franklin Bridge and the Walt Whitman Bridge carried their one-billionth vehicles. [2]

In 2011, DRPA ceased operating the Philadelphia Cruise Terminal. [3] In 2015, DRPA sold the RiverLink Ferry to the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation and the Cooper's Ferry Partnership. [4]

In 2022, the DRPA installed more than 20 MW of solar panels at its facilities built by TotalEnergies. The Lindenwold, Ashland, Woodcrest, and Ferry Avenue PATCO stations, as well as the Betsy Ross Bridge, Commodore Barry Bridge, and DRPA's headquarters in Camden, have large solar canopies covering their parking lots. These will provide more than half of the DRPA's electricity usage and save it $12 million over a 20-year PPA contract. [5] [6] [7] [8]

Board of Commissioners

Sixteen commissioners govern the Delaware River Port Authority, eight of whom represent New Jersey and Pennsylvania. All eight New Jersey commissioners are appointed by the governor of New Jersey, and six Pennsylvania commissioners are appointed by the governor of Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania treasurer and the Pennsylvania auditor general serve as ex officio commissioners. These two officers are elected officials.

The 16 commissioners also serve as the board of directors for the Port Authority Transit Corporation or PATCO, a DRPA subsidiary.

Facilities

Bridges

The DRPA operates and maintains four bridges that cross the Delaware River between Pennsylvania and New Jersey. All four bridges charge a $5 westbound toll. From southwest to northeast, they are:

Public transportation

PATCO Speedline train at Lindenwold station PATCO Rebuilt.jpg
PATCO Speedline train at Lindenwold station

Real estate

Former

Police Department

A DRPA police jeep Random police Jeep on the bridge.jpg
A DRPA police jeep

The DRPA Police Department provides police services on all DRPA properties.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Delaware Valley</span> Metropolitan area in the United States

The Delaware Valley, sometimes referred to as Greater Philadelphia or the Philadelphia metropolitan area, is a metropolitan region in the Northeast United States that centers around Philadelphia, the nation's sixth-most populous city, and spans parts of four U.S. states: southeastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, northern Delaware, and the northern Eastern Shore of Maryland. With a core metropolitan statistical area population of 6.288 million residents and a combined statistical area population of 7.366 million as of the 2020 census, the Delaware Valley is the eighth-largest metropolitan region in the nation and North America, and the 68th-largest metropolitan region in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PATCO Speedline</span> Rapid transit system in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, United States

The PATCO Speedline, signed in Philadelphia as the Lindenwold Line and also known colloquially as the PATCO High Speed Line, is a rapid transit route operated by the Port Authority Transit Corporation (PATCO), which runs between Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Camden County, New Jersey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Betsy Ross Bridge</span> Bridge connecting Philadelphia and New Jersey

The Betsy Ross Bridge is a continuous steel truss bridge spanning the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Pennsauken, New Jersey. It was built from 1969 to 1974, and opened in April 1976, during the American Bicentennial Year. It was originally planned to be named as the "Delair Bridge", after a paralleling vertical lift bridge owned by Pennsylvania Railroad, which is now used by Conrail Shared Assets Operations and New Jersey Transit's Atlantic City Line, but was instead later named for Betsy Ross, a Philadelphia seamstress and creator of the first American flag in 1776. It was the first automotive bridge named for a woman in the United States, and the second U.S. bridge overall named for a woman after Iowa's Boone High Bridge was renamed the Kate Shelley High Bridge in 1912.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Commodore Barry Bridge</span> Bridge in New Jersey and Pennsylvania

The Commodore Barry Bridge is a cantilever bridge that spans the Delaware River from Chester, Pennsylvania to Bridgeport, New Jersey, in Logan Township. It is named after John Barry, an American Revolutionary War hero and Philadelphia resident.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interstate 676</span> Highway in New Jersey and Pennsylvania

Interstate 676 (I-676) is an Interstate Highway that serves as a major thoroughfare through Center City Philadelphia, where it is known as the Vine Street Expressway, and Camden, New Jersey, where it is known as the northern segment of the North–South Freeway, as well as the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Highway in honor of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. Its western terminus is at I-76 in Philadelphia near the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Fairmount Park. From there, it heads east and is then routed on surface streets near Franklin Square and Independence National Historical Park, home of the Liberty Bell, before crossing the Delaware River on the Benjamin Franklin Bridge. On the New Jersey side of the bridge, the highway heads south to its southern terminus at I-76 in Gloucester City near the Walt Whitman Bridge. Between the western terminus and downtown Camden, I-676 is concurrent with U.S. Route 30 (US 30).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transportation in Philadelphia</span>

Transportation in Philadelphia involves the various modes of transport within the city and its required infrastructure. In addition to facilitating intracity travel, Philadelphia's transportation system connects Philadelphia to towns of its metropolitan area and surrounding areas within the Northeast megalopolis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atlantic City Line</span> Commuter rail line in New Jersey and Pennsylvania

The Atlantic City Line (ACL) is a commuter rail line operated by NJ Transit (NJT) in the United States between Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Atlantic City, New Jersey, operating along the corridor of the White Horse Pike. It runs over trackage that was controlled by both the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) and the Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines. It shares trackage with SEPTA and Amtrak on the Northeast Corridor (NEC) until it crosses the Delaware River on Conrails Delair Bridge into New Jersey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lindenwold station</span> NJ Transit rail station

Lindenwold station is a train station in Lindenwold, New Jersey, United States, served by the NJ Transit Atlantic City Line regional rail service and the rapid transit PATCO Speedline. Lindenwold is the eastern terminus of PATCO; the system's headquarters and maintenance facility are located adjacent to the station in neighboring Voorhees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Penn's Landing</span> Neighborhood of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania, United States

Penn's Landing is a waterfront area of Center City Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, situated along the Delaware River. Its name commemorates the landing of William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania, in 1682. The actual landing site is farther south, in Chester. The city of Philadelphia purchased the right to use the name. Penn's Landing is bounded by Front Street to the west, the Delaware River to the east, Spring Garden Street to the north, and Washington Avenue to the south, and is primarily focused on the Christopher Columbus Boulevard corridor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Delair Bridge</span> Bridge in and Pennsauken Township, NJ

The Delair Bridge is a railroad bridge with a vertical-lift section that crosses the Delaware River between Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Pennsauken Township, New Jersey, just south of the Betsy Ross Bridge. The two-track bridge is part of Conrail Shared Assets Operations and is jointly used by Norfolk Southern Railway and CSX Transportation freight trains, as well as by the New Jersey Transit Atlantic City Line service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Franklin Square station</span> Abandoned subway station in Philadelphia

Franklin Square station is an unused, underground rapid transit station on the PATCO Speedline, operated by the Delaware River Port Authority. It is located under Franklin Square in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Opened on June 7, 1936, the station was the first westbound and final eastbound station in Philadelphia, located just west of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge which carries trains over the Delaware River. The station has been opened for four separate intervals, each time eventually being closed for low ridership. As of 2021, the station is being refurbished and is expected to reopen in April 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter Rand Transportation Center</span> Passenger transportation hub in Camden, New Jersey

The Walter Rand Transportation Center is a transportation hub located at Martin Luther King Boulevard and Broadway in Camden, New Jersey. It is served by the River Line, New Jersey Transit buses and Greyhound intercity buses and also includes the Broadway station of the PATCO Speedline.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RiverLink Ferry</span> Passenger ferry that crosses the Delaware River

The RiverLink Ferry is a passenger ferry service in the United States. The ferry crosses the Delaware River, connecting the Camden Waterfront, in Camden, New Jersey, with Penn's Landing, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The ferry operates daily from May through September, and on Fridays through Sundays in April and October. Primarily, the system provides tourists with a means to reach waterfront attractions. The service carries over 200,000 passengers per year and first turned a profit in 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transportation in New Jersey</span> Overview of the transportation in New Jersey

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benjamin Franklin Bridge</span> Suspension bridge between Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Camden, New Jersey

The Benjamin Franklin Bridge, originally named the Delaware River Bridge and known locally as the Ben Franklin Bridge, is a suspension bridge across the Delaware River connecting Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Camden, New Jersey. Owned and operated by the Delaware River Port Authority, it is one of four primary vehicular bridges between Philadelphia and southern New Jersey, along with the Betsy Ross, Walt Whitman, and Tacony-Palmyra bridges. It carries Interstate 676/U.S. Route 30, pedestrians/cyclists, and the PATCO Speedline.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walt Whitman Bridge</span> Bridge between Philadelphia, PA and Gloucester City, NJ

The Walt Whitman Bridge is a single-level suspension bridge spanning the Delaware River from Philadelphia in the west to Gloucester City in Camden County, New Jersey in the east. The bridge is named after American poet and essayist Walt Whitman, who resided in nearby Camden toward the end of his life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port of Camden</span> Port in United States

The Port of Camden is situated on east bank of the Delaware River in Camden and Gloucester City in southern New Jersey. It is one of several ports in the Delaware Valley metro area port complex and is located near the mouth of Newtown Creek opposite the Port of Philadelphia. The port is one of the nation's largest for wood products, steel, cocoa and perishable fruit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glassboro–Camden Line</span> Proposed light rail line in New Jersey

The Glassboro–Camden Line (GCL) is a planned 18-mile (29 km) diesel multiple unit (DMU) light rail system to be located in South Jersey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">One Port Center</span> Skyscraper in Camden

One Port Center is an office building in Camden, New Jersey located in the Camden Waterfront. The building, opened in 1996, was designed by Michael Graves and is headquarters to the Delaware River Port Authority.

References

  1. "Former Senior Associate Counsel Named New Chairman of the Delaware River Port Authority" Jensen Toussaint; Philedelphia Today; March 2, 2024; accessed March 20, 2024.
  2. "DRPA History Timeline". Delaware River Port Authority. Archived from the original on March 26, 2009. Retrieved October 25, 2011.
  3. Barna, John (January 6, 2011). "Delaware River Port Authority Ends Cruise Terminal Operation". NJ.com. Retrieved June 8, 2022.
  4. Adomaitis, Greg (January 22, 2015). "DRPA Sells RiverLink Ferry to Bi-State Partnership for $300K". NJ.com. Retrieved June 8, 2022.
  5. DRPA/PATCO and TotalEnergies Partner on USA's First Solar-Powered High-Speed Rail , retrieved February 17, 2023
  6. Ludt, Billy (October 27, 2022). "Multi-array solar project directly powers interstate commuter train". Solar Power World. Retrieved February 17, 2023.
  7. Comegno, Carol. "50,000 solar panels to save DRPA money, provide shade for PATCO speedline parking". Courier-Post. Retrieved February 17, 2023.
  8. "Projects: Solar Energy Generation". DRPA. Retrieved February 17, 2023.
  9. "Philadelphia, N.J. Tram Still a Dream". USA Today . Associated Press. July 21, 2004. Archived from the original on May 16, 2008. Retrieved October 11, 2008.

39°56′38″N75°07′48″W / 39.94397°N 75.13000°W / 39.94397; -75.13000