One of the recurring comments overheard in elevators and around water coolers at the Port Authority is there aren’t many people who are aware of the really cool transportation stuff the agency does every day.

These stories rarely make the news cycle.  Not many of us would pause anyway to think about the intermodal freight system that delivers fresh fish to our region, while out dining at a restaurant on Alaskan sockeye salmon.

Our dependence on transportation infrastructure truly doesn’t hit home until a disruption occurs or a disaster strikes.

Our intention in creating Portfolio, the official new blog of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, is to spotlight the fascinating, critical and under-appreciated role transportation infrastructure plays in this region.

In a nod to our agency’s storied, 94-year past, we named our blog after a quarterly journal also titled Portfolio, which the Port Authority published 25 years ago as a forum for contemporary thinking on regional, national and international transportation issues.

In upcoming blog posts, for example, we’ll feature everything from customer-service amenities in our airport terminals, to NextGen satellite technology in our airspace, and back inside for unique dishes served in upscale restaurants that  appeal to the globe-trotting foodie.

From smart technology on our bridges to the replacement cables that will hold the George Washington Bridge up another 84 years.  From the Shore power that provides clean energy to tourist ships to the gantry cranes that remove containers from ships and onto trucks at our ports.

And then some.

We want you to know us.   With the Port Authority’s vast network of airports, six tunnels and bridges, sprawling port facilities and the PATH rail system, we operate and maintain many of the most important transportation assets in the country.

We will introduce you to some of our people: unsung Port Authority personnel, many of them quiet heroes, who keep our facilities safe and in good operation.  Sometimes they even save lives.

We’ll share our rich history through vintage photographs and stories from the Port Authority’s well-stocked vault.  Because for almost a century, no institution has done more than the Port Authority to shape the social, economic and commercial geography of the New York metropolitan region.  We look forward toward your joining us on this trip.

Roz Hamlett, Editor