New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy is ordering a full-scale audit of New Jersey Transit.
After recent disruptions for riders and longer commute times, Murphy says the public deserves a full accounting for how the once-model mass transit agency has fallen so far so fast.
Martin Robins is chairman emeritus of the Voorhees Transportation Center at Rutgers. He says there have been a lot of studies and hearings on New Jersey Transit, but doesn’t believe they’ve revealed all the problems.
“They could not go deep enough because there were things that had to be said that were not to be said in public in the past. It’s much worse than have been revealed up until now. And it will take a deep audit and a very determined set of new leaders to figure out how to right things.”
The audit will include a review of the agency’s finances, leadership structure, hiring process, and customer service.
Senate Transportation Committee chairman Bob Gordon says the audit is an excellent idea and should be done as quickly as possible.
“I’ve heard some experienced New Jersey Transit people say that we have deteriorated so much and have lost so much expertise in the last few years that we don’t have the luxury of much time in turning this organization around.”
Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin says the audit can provide added insights in developing legislative fixes to ensure a dependable transportation system.