the heads of New Jerseys transportation agencies got their turn before the Assembly Budget Committee today as each department faces its own separate crisis A looming rail strike at New Jersey Transit major sinkhole repairs on Route 80 for the DOT and a deadline for Real ID that's overwhelming operations at the State Motor Vehicle Commission So can a little extra state aid help senior correspondent Brenda Flatigan reports in our ongoing series Under the Dome exploring the state government and its impact on the people who live here I believe in collective bargaining I will stay there till the very last minute hour second to get a deal done because I think it's the right thing to do NJ Transit CEO faced the Assembly Budget Committee with one foot out the door headed for contract negotiations to avert a rail strike by locomotive engineers That could cost the agency an extra $4 million a day to provide alternate transportation for just 20% of a 100,000 rail riders Chris Kori argued NJ Transit can't afford union demands for wage parity with engineers in New York But the Brotherhood of Local Engineers and Trainman membership voted down the AY's last offer 372 members of a union of my colleagues by the way somehow think it is fair to get a $55,000 pay raise Well I just don't think it is right Calli noted union demands would cost $1.3 billion and require a 17% fair hike or a 27% increase in the corporate transit fee However union officials dispute Color's calculations and claim their demands would cost about 250 million But Kuri is worried about the current economic forecast We may be facing a recession We are certainly looking at an environment on the tariffs which are punitive at best I try to focus on a problem not on the politics The tariffs and the and the complexity surrounding tariffs is going to have a huge impact on our on-time delivery of part The union today said BL will present an affordable proposal to NJT today that would bring engineers closer to parody with what other engineers in the industry working in passenger rail earn A strike would certainly impact NJ Transit's budget numbers Meanwhile the state department of transportation's hoping for some federal funding to help address another crisis Route 80 has been closed for weeks around exit 34 as workers grapple with filling in sink holes from collapsed mine shafts Repairs cost an estimated $150,000 a day Traffic's detourred around the construction in both east and westbound directions It's a mess says Commissioner Francis Okconor We know this is one of the most heavily traveled corridors in the state and that disruptions caused by emergency by the emergency sinkhole repairs affect thousands of people every day I want to assure you that the New Jersey DOT is working with urgency and doing everything we can to get these lanes reopened quickly but above all else safely A couple lanes in each direction should reopen by the end of May he said but it'll take until the end of June to finish the job And while Trump transportation secretary Shawn Duffy's promised federal funding that's TBA Another pressing transportation deadline May 7th That's when the TSA will require Real IDs to board domestic flights unless you have a valid passport And New Jersey's Motor Vehicle Commission's been struggling to meet the demand for Real ID appointments The deadline crept up on many to the point where it seems those who didn't already have a real ID but needed or just wanted one were all attempting to get one at once We're hearing from our constituents they simply cannot get an appointment and you used the word and I wrote it down that it crept up on us When did it come to your attention that we were really in a crisis mode the acting commissioner said pressure for appointments started building in late February despite the agency's having promoted the program for years but she explained a high percentage of New Jersey residents already have valid passports which the TSA will also accept for domestic flights At the end of the day Real ID is not mandatory So it's really hard for us to determine how many of those passport holders are going to come into the agencies and get a Real ID She said the agency just added Real ID Tuesdays on top of its Real ID Thursdays to offer more chances to sign up The legislators got until June 30th to pass a state budget at the state house in Trenton I'm Brenda Flanigan NJ Spotlight News This program is made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting a private corporation funded by the American people [Music]