Passaic County Commissioner John W. Bartlett Elected Secretary of North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority
Passaic County Commissioner John W. Bartlett Elected Secretary of North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority
Passaic County Commissioner John W. Bartlett was elected to a two-year term as Secretary of the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority (NJTPA) at the January 12 Board of Trustees meeting.
“I am honored that my fellow Board members have entrusted me to serve on the Executive Committee,” Commissioner Bartlett said. “This is a critical time for transportation in North Jersey, with major projects like the Hudson River Tunnel advancing, and Congress working to reauthorize federal funding for transportation infrastructure before the current legislation expires in September.”
The NJTPA oversees regional transportation planning and partners with local and state agencies to help fund more than $3 billion in transportation investments annually for 13 counties in northern and central New Jersey.
Commissioner Bartlett, who joined the NJTPA Board in 2012, has held numerous leadership positions during his tenure, including serving as Chair from 2022-2023. He has also held committee leadership positions, serving as Chair of both the Project Prioritization Committee and the Planning and Economic Development Committee, and Vice Chair of the Freight Initiatives Committee. He will serve as Vice Chair of the Project Prioritization Committee for the 2026-2027 term.
In June 2025, he took his leadership to the national level, when he was elected to the Board of Directors of the National Association of Regional Councils (NARC). As the Region II District Representative, Commissioner Bartlett represents Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. NARC serves as a national voice for regional planning organizations, promoting cross-jurisdictional collaboration on transportation, housing, environmental sustainability, and economic development.
Since Bartlett joined the NJTPA Board, more than $600 million in federal infrastructure funding has flowed into Passaic County, supporting projects from major road improvements on Routes 46, 3, 23, and 80, to completion of the county’s section of the 111-mile Morris Canal Greenway, to local safety improvements protecting pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists.
The NJTPA also funds regional and local studies, including the Passaic County Urban Core Trucking Study, which will get underway soon. This study will assess the effects of trucking on the cities of Clifton, Passaic, and Paterson to improve existing truck routes, enhance safety, address community concerns and incorporate Complete Streets strategies.
Commissioner Bartlett is a partner at Murphy Orlando LLC and holds a degree from Harvard Law School. He received a bachelor’s degree with honors from Brown University and was a Raoul Wallenberg Scholar at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He wrote for The Associated Press in Israel and served as communications director for the national anti-crime organization Fight Crime: Invest in Kids in Washington, D.C. He lives in Wayne with his wife and their son.
NJTPA Board of Trustees Executive Committee
At the meeting, the NJTPA Board also selected four other members of its Executive Committee. In addition to Commissioner Bartlett, the elected members of the Executive Committee are Middlesex County Commissioner Charles Kenny, Chair; Warren County Commissioner Jason Sarnoski, First Vice Chair; and Union County Commissioner Michèle S. Delisfort, Second Vice Chair. In accordance with the bylaws, Chairman Kenny appointed Morris County Commissioner Stephen Shaw to the position of Third Vice Chair.
The Executive Committee provides guidance and leadership to the full Board on a wide range of planning, policy and administrative issues. It meets as needed to review financial, personnel
and policy matters. Board membership is an uncompensated position.
The NJTPA is the metropolitan planning organization (MPO) for 13 northern New Jersey counties. Under federal legislation, MPOs provide a forum where local officials, public transportation providers and state agency representatives can come together and cooperatively plan to meet the region’s current and future transportation needs. It establishes the region’s eligibility to receive federal tax dollars for transportation projects.
The NJTPA Board consists of one local elected official from each of the 13 counties in the region (Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Union and Warren), and the cities of Newark and Jersey City. The Board also includes a Governor’s Representative, the Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Transportation, the Executive Director of NJ TRANSIT, the Chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and a Citizen’s Representative appointed by the Governor.
