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Liam Blank

The NJ Transit Reform Act of 2018

A policy report and a rider coalition that led to a state law: a 13-member NJ Transit board with seats for commuters, a customer advocate, and public safety data.

Organization
Tri-State Transportation Campaign
Dates
April to December 2018
Role
Policy and communications manager
Outcome
Signed into law as S630 / P.L. 2018, c. 162
Governor Phil Murphy signing a bill at Summit train station, with legislators and advocates standing around him.
Governor Phil Murphy signs S630 at Summit station, joined by Janna Chernetz, then deputy director of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign (left), and legislative leaders.

The question

In 2018, NJ Transit was one of the largest transit agencies in the country, and its board had no seat for the commuters it served. The agency lacked transparency and board expertise, and reform efforts had stalled in the Legislature for years.

The Tri-State Transportation Campaign (TSTC) set out to answer what a governance law would have to contain to overhaul the board and write transparency rules into state statute.

What I did

As TSTC’s policy and communications manager, I combined policy writing with coalition work.

  • Wrote the report “NJ Transit: An Agency in Need of Reform” (June 2018), which served as the blueprint for the bill’s Senate and Assembly sponsors.
  • Organized a coalition of advocacy groups, labor unions, and riders, and used press coverage to keep the bill a priority during the legislative session.
  • Worked with the sponsors so that the report’s main recommendations stayed in the final text.

What changed

Governor Phil Murphy signed S630 on December 20, 2018, at Summit station. The law, P.L. 2018, c. 162, reflects the report’s recommendations:

  • Board expansion. The Board of Directors grew from 8 to 13 members to broaden its expertise.
  • Seats for riders. The board must include commuters who ride NJ Transit’s trains and buses.
  • Accountability. The law created a Customer Advocate and a Chief Ethics Officer, and requires public disclosure of accident and safety data.

At the ceremony, Governor Murphy and Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg acknowledged TSTC’s role in keeping the legislation focused on riders’ needs through the negotiations.

“In one sentence, this reform puts into law the simple concept that NJ Transit works for commuters and not the other way around.”

Deliverables

Limits

The law was the work of its sponsors, the Legislature, and a coalition; this page covers my part in it. The Act changed how NJ Transit is governed and what it must disclose. It did not change service by itself: at the signing, Senator Weinberg said the bill was no panacea and would not make every train run on time (NJBIZ).