But Ward said bringing the port’s bridges, tunnels and trains to a state of good repair is not good enough when other countries are investing in new infrastructure and technology. “Unfortunately, you cannot always do more with less,” he said, describing three consecutive years of little-to-no growth in operating expenses, $5 billion in cut projects and billions deferred from the Port Authority’s original $33-billion capital plan due to the recession. “Sometimes, you simply must do more. Until that reality has become part of our political conversation, we are going to continue playing catch-up with the rest of the world.”

Using the World Trade Center redevelopment as a model, Ward said the 9/11 Memorial in particular has been a “remarkable achievement” given the timeframe of the project and the successful collaboration between government and private investment. “It is a testament to the discipline and hard work of the Port Authority engineers, our partners and the men and the women of the construction industry who are literally building every single day,” he said.

The memorial--which will be open to victim’s families on September 11 and the general public on September 12--will include two waterfalls and reflecting pools set where the original twin towers once stood. The nearly 3,000 names of victims at the World Trade Center, Pentagon and United Flight 93 will be inscribed in bronze on panels that frame the north and south reflecting pools, surrounded by a plaza of trees. It is expected to draw millions of new visitors to Lower Manhattan.

Ward also said that One World Trade Center--now standing 80 stories high with Conde Nast as its anchor tenant--has been transformed after it was renamed from the ‘Freedom Tower.’ He explained that the building’s old name would have made it “difficult to lease” due to the connection to the site’s tragic past. Additionally, the Port Authority is in the process of closing a $1.2-billion joint venture deal with Westfield Properties for 500,000 square feet of retail on the property.

“We are finally seeing tangible progress, and it is progress that is happening in part because we have learned the lessons from those early difficult years, that it is better to focus less on the monumentalism, worry less about the history and less about where you will be, but focus more on the hard and fast decisions like project design, construction milestones and budgets,” Ward said. “It is great to see how well that focus has worked.”