The numbers, which run through the first quarter of 2006, detail losses of $800,000 during the system’s first two weeks of operation, followed by shortfalls of $34.2 million and $28.7 million in 2004 and 2005, respectively. The system ran $5.5 million in the red for the first three months of 2006 for a total negative balance of $69.2 million.
   Officials at the Port Authority said the lackluster financial performance was not alarming.
   “AirTrain was not created as a revenue generator but as a service for travellers,” said Port Authority spokesman Pasquale DiFulco. DiFulco pointed to another Port Authority system, the PATH trains, which run from New Jersey to New York and lose about $250 million a year. He said the AirTrain system is not expected to approach break even numbers in the near future.
   The losses are the latest chapter in the star crossed history of the 8.1 mile light rail system that cost more than $1.9 billion to build and about $45 million to operate annually. In 2002, construction on the project was delayed by the death of worker Kelvin DeBourgh Jr. during a test run. In addition, hundreds of residents in South Ozone Park, South Jamaica and Howard Beach filed complaints against the Port Authority for property damage sustained during construction.
   Despite the bleak overall numbers, AirTrain brought in more revenue in 2005 than 2004, as operating and maintenance costs decreased and ridership increased. But ridership numbers are just beginning to reach the projections made by the Port Authority when it opened.
   In December 2003, the Port Authority anticipated a daily ridership of 34,000 total passengers. Of those riders, 11,000 were expected to be paying customers riding the system between the airport and the stations in Jamaica and Howard Beach, while the rest would take the train for free between airport terminals.
   In May 2006, the system averaged 10,674 paid riders per day from Jamaica and Howard Beach, according to DiFulco, up from the daily average of 9,347 paying passengers in 2005 and 7,140 in 2004.
   “We are right where we expected to be,” DiFulco said, noting that numbers from 2003 were expectations for the first five years of the system.
   There are no firm numbers on the total number of passengers, but DiFulco said the authority estimates that 35,000 to 40,000 riders use the system every day. There are also no exact statistics on who is riding the system making it unclear whether the AirTrain is used more often by airport employees or by plane travellers.
   “Anecdotally we’re seeing a large mix of passengers, from college students to families. There is a healthy mix of airline employees,” DiFulco said.
   While the ridership numbers are meeting expectations, those who are using the system regularly give the system mediocre ratings.
   “On a scale of one to ten I give it a four,” said Victor Cuello, who rides the AirTrain Monday through Friday from Jamaica Station to his job at Airbase Services. “There are delays. Yesterday I was on an AirTrain where only one door set out of four was opening.”
   DiFulco said the Port Authority is working with the manufacturer of the system, Montreal based Bombardier, to address the door malfunctions. The doors have been a problem since they closed on Mayor Michael Bloomberg during the system’s initial run.
   “Door faults have dropped 85 percent in the last three months. We are focusing resources on this issue,” he said.