The funding questions on the proposed South Jersey light-rail line came a day after the Christie administration indefinitely suspended about 100 other state-funded road and rail projects.
Gov. Christie last month halted work for 30 days on a $8.7 billion rail tunnel between New Jersey and Manhattan to review budget concerns.
DRPA Chairman John Matheussen said he remained optimistic the South Jersey rail line would proceed. Funding and logistics concerns about the North Jersey tunnel should not affect the local project, he said.
"I don't know that one has anything to do with the other," Matheussen said. "We don't think we have the same issues in South Jersey."
The proposed light-rail line would run 18 miles alongside an existing Conrail freight line through Glassboro, Pitman, Mantua, Wenonah, Woodbury, Deptford, West Deptford, Westville, Bellmawr, Brooklawn, Gloucester City, and Camden.
The line would connect to PATCO and River Line trains in Camden, where passengers could catch trains to Philadelphia or Trenton.
Christie's predecessor, Gov. Jon S. Corzine, promised last year to provide $500 million for the $1.5 billion line. The money was to come from the Transportation Trust Fund, which is funded with gas-tax revenues and borrowed money.
The DRPA was counting on up to $9 million of that aid to pay for an environmental-impact statement required before work can proceed on the rail line.
But the transportation fund is almost broke, and NJ Transit notified DRPA that it couldn't fund the work now.
NJ Transit told DRPA it would eventually reimburse DRPA for the money it spends on preparation for the rail line, once the transportation fund is replenished.
With that assurance, the DRPA board Wednesday voted to use $450,000 to pay engineering consultant STV Inc. of Philadelphia for environmental work already done.
The environmental study could cost up to $9 million and take two years.
