Bill would break down silos and allow for more comprehensive transportation planning

SUMMIT, N.J.— State Assemblyman Andrew Macurdy has introduced legislation (A4146) to combine several New Jersey transportation entities. Consolidating mass transit and toll highways will help achieve better service and more streamlined transportation policy and planning across the State’s various modes of transit. The proposal is a step towards more efficient and effective state government.

Macurdy’s bill, introduced earlier this year, would create a new agency called the “Transportation Authority of New Jersey” to oversee the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, New Jersey Transit, and the Transportation Trust Fund Authority. These existing entities would become divisions within the new umbrella authority. The new authority would be headed by a chair and overseen by a board appointed by the Governor.

Macurdy’s proposal runs adjacent to recent actions taken by Gov. Sherrill’s administration. The Governor’s appointment of Kris Kolluri to lead both the Turnpike Authority and NJ Transit reflects an effort to streamline transportation statewide, as detailed in recent reporting.

Macurdy, a member of the Assembly’s Transportation Committee and a regular NYC commuter, gave the following statement regarding the proposed legislation:

Transportation infrastructure is a basic responsibility of the government. Too often our residents are stuck on a delayed train or a gridlocked highway. We can do better. By consolidating our transit agencies—covering trains, buses, and roads—into a single organization, this bill eliminates silos and opens the door for holistic transportation planning for the entire State. The decisions we make now will impact our State for generations.

The bill provides for the hiring of an independent consultant to advise on the transition to the new agency, which is intended to take place over the course of a year. While the existing transit agencies would remain distinct divisions in the new authority, certain functions would be centralized as appropriate—such as information technology, budget, capital planning, legal, and insurance.

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Before becoming a member of the State Assembly in District 21 representing parts of Middlesex, Morris, Somerset, and Union Counties, Andrew Macurdy served as a federal prosecutor in Newark and a county prosecutor in Jersey City. At the Attorney General’s Office, he worked on public safety initiatives related to gun violence and auto theft, as well as designing and building the Arrive Together program, which pairs mental health workers with law enforcement officers to jointly respond to mental health crisis calls for service and currently operates in municipalities around the state. Macurdy’s Assembly Office website is assemblymanandrewmacurdy.com.