The Port Authority's decison to use a problem-plagued rubber-tired monorail system at Newark Airport instead of conventional standard-gauge rail technology will remain an inconvenience for New Jersey residents and visitors for years to come. ("Rusting airport monorail will close for $25 million fix," March 27)

The authority selected this incompatible monorail system to foreclose operation of its trains on rail lines near the airport. This was done to avoid diminishing airport parking revenues. When the Newark Airport monorail first experienced "teething" problems, authority deputy director John Haley insisted that the Kennedy Airport transit system, then in the planning stage, use standard rail technology. But after his departure, authority bureaucrats selected a "linear induction motor" technology feature for Kennedy, ensuring a captive system since rail cars could not operate to Manhattan or other off-airport points.

Gov. Christie Whitman should veto the authority plan to extend this failed technology to a new transfer station on the Northeast Corridor line. Instead, the authority should convert the entire monorail system to standard-gauge rail technology and operate trains directly from Newark Airport to downtown Newark, other New Jersey locations and Manhattan.