authority is a bi-state agency that owns and operates the airports, bridges and tunnels in the metropolitan region. but it does more than that. because the port right now is playing a major role in how new jersey is financing its transportation budget. we looked at the numbers. right now one of every $5 being spent on transportation comes from the port authority. that's almost $4.5 billion over the next five years. if you want to really understand the relationship between chris christie and samson you have to understand how this happened and what the port has become. and that story starts with the killing of the a.r.c. tunnel in 2010 because it was not just the state of new jersey and the federal government paying for the a.r.c. tunnel. the port authority itself had a bunch of money set the aside for the project. a bunch of money as in $3 billion. $3 billion that could go instead to big ticket infrastructure projects in new jersey. that christie could take credit for.