New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill has appointed Kris Kolluri to lead both NJ Transit and the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, a move supporters say could eventually stabilize NJ Transit funding and reduce siloed decision-making—while skeptics warn it could spark po
On the mornings after major storms. transit systems usually show their stress first: delays stack up. equipment fails. and people start asking whether anyone is fully steering the response. In New Jersey, Gov. Mikie Sherrill is betting that the answer to that problem may start with who sits at the top.
In January. Sherrill appointed Kris Kolluri to lead both the New Jersey Turnpike Authority and NJ Transit—an “unprecedented decision” she described as a way to reduce “stovepipes” and make the state’s biggest transportation systems operate together. “We want to be innovative. we want these systems to work better. there’s too many stovepipes in this state. and this is exactly the kind of innovation we’re looking for. ” Sherrill said in an exclusive interview with NorthJersey.com. She added that bringing the leadership into one person could make New Jersey “more nimble.”.
She pointed to early tests of the plan during the historic snowstorms that hit the region in January and February. Then there was the pressure of hosting eight World Cup matches—including the final—at MetLife Stadium in June and July. Sherrill said her administration had to finalize transportation details and execute for the event with less than six months on the job.
For Sherrill, the practical value came down to speed and coordination. “Having one person to turn to to say. ‘OK. this is what I want here. here and here’ and to have that expertise that Kris brought. but then also … instead of operating in silos, our biggest transit agencies are operating together,” she said.
Kolluri’s assignment is not framed as a formal merger yet. But he is aligning the way NJ Transit and the authority plan and share ideas—especially around how to weather storms, handle mega events, and connect equipment and operations that look separate on paper.
He is also trying to reshape the narrative about the turnpike and NJ Transit, arguing that the systems are “inextricably linked” even if they appear different. “Each system looks, feels different, but they’re all doing the same thing — they’re moving people from point A to point B,” Kolluri said.
In his immediate work, he has focused on turning coordination into a repeatable approach. The “LAND” plan—cataloging all of an agency’s property to decide whether it could be sold, developed or better monetized—started at NJ Transit and is now taking shape at the Turnpike Authority.
That linkage matters because. in Kolluri’s view. separating the systems ignores what happens to daily life when one part of the transportation machine falters. “Without NJ Transit, hundreds of thousands of people would be in cars every day. Without the turnpike. commercial truck traffic would clog local roads. and would-be drivers could overwhelm the mass transit system. ” he said.
Sherrill’s pitch is ultimately about finding a way to improve state government beyond incremental fixes. “We are focused on innovating. on moving the state forward. on addressing all the ways in which families have had a tough time with quality of life. and certainly transit was front and center. ” she said.
The parallel that’s hard to miss goes back more than two decades.
In 2003, former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey pushed to merge the Garden State Parkway with the New Jersey Turnpike Authority. The stakes at the time were urgent repair needs on the Governor Alfred E. Driscoll Bridge in Woodbridge, which crossed the Raritan River. Paul Josephson—deputy counsel to McGreevey at the time—said raising tolls on in-state drivers was treated like a “third rail in politics. ” and that the decision required political courage.
“Everybody told us you can’t do it,” Josephson said. “It took the governor coming in to say, ‘We’re changing how we do business.’”
Josephson said the merge included efficiencies, such as eliminating 130 redundant positions in human resources, the law department and elsewhere. But the bigger outcome. he said. was changing how spending decisions were made—shifting from the specific interests of one roadway to a “state-minded approach” tied to combined funding and bonding capacity.
That history is now being echoed in a new argument: if NJ Transit is struggling, perhaps toll-backed resources could help stabilize long-term planning.
Proponents point to NJ Transit’s funding constraints. arguing that band-aid support keeps the agency stuck with short-term thinking and leads to equipment failures. “Commuters are already paying quite hefty rates for buses and trains right now. so there’s a natural limit to how much more you can ask commuters to spend before they’re either priced out of the market or they jump back in their cars. ” Josephson said.
Josephson also said toll revenue is worth investigating as part of transit’s funding problem. “Could turnpike toll revenue be part of the solution to transit’s funding problem?. Absolutely, totally worth checking out, totally something that we should try and figure out whether it makes sense,” he said.
NJ Transit. like other public transportation agencies in the United States. operates at a deficit every year and relies on state aid to keep fares affordable. But unlike many U.S. public transportation agencies, NJ Transit has not had constitutionally dedicated funding, meaning the state aid it receives changes each year. That irregularity, supporters say, makes long-term planning difficult—especially for large purchases like replacing rolling stock.
The operational consequences are laid out plainly: NJ Transit trains and locomotives—many dating back to the 1950s through the 1980s—are breaking down at record numbers. Last year, 1,665 trips were canceled due to broken-down trains, a 174% increase since 2017, when 606 trips were canceled for the same reason.
Even smaller investments can stall. In 2023, an application for a track expansion project through Harrison was withheld because NJ Transit couldn’t set aside money for its portion of the local match needed to apply for federal grants.
Sherrill said short-term funding decisions have harmed commuters and affordability. “We’ve seen in previous administrations where there were these short-term decisions made,” she said. “In the long term, it really harmed commuters and quality of life and affordability here in New Jersey.”
But the idea of merging isn’t without tension—especially for the people who manage capital flows and the unions that often determine whether changes can land safely.
A full merger would require more than new leadership. Sherrill said a merger would require a study and would have to make financial sense. It also would have to be sold to the state Legislature, which would need to pass bills to make it happen.
There are already financial linkages between the Turnpike Authority and NJ Transit. which supporters argue shows the systems can function together. Since 2012. the Turnpike Authority has sent money to NJ Transit each year to help subsidize the mass transit agency’s budget. This year, the Turnpike Authority will send $470 million to help fill NJ Transit’s budget gap.
Under the same arrangement, the Gateway rail tunnel project under construction beneath the Hudson River will receive $500 million a year from the Turnpike Authority.
Still, Kolluri and Sherrill’s push runs into how money is legally structured. Josephson said amending the state Transportation Trust Fund could be a complication. That fund uses constitutionally dedicated gas and petroleum taxes to fund capital projects for NJ Transit and the state Transportation Department. and Josephson said changing it could require a ballot measure.
Greg Lalavee—vice chair of the fund’s board and business manager of International Union of Operating Engineers Local 825—said there could be positive outcomes from merging agencies. including efficiencies in how contracts are bid. But he worried that creating one large pool of capital money could politicize which projects get funded.
“Merging the agencies, I think there’s some efficiencies that could be garnered there in terms of just the way things are bid,” Lalavee said. “On the other side of it, are we going to start to play politics in terms of winners and losers between roads, transit and capital operations?”
Josephson agreed there could be “food fights” over project funding, but he suggested pressure could also produce accountability. “It makes everybody work a lot harder if you know that you have to justify what you are spending in order to get your project,” he said.
Those worries are sharpened by the scrutiny the Turnpike Authority has already faced over big-ticket projects.
An $11 billion program to widen the turnpike—with more lanes between Bayonne. Newark and Jersey City—has become one of the most contentious decisions. Environmentalists opposed it. saying the money should instead go to mass transit projects to relieve congestion. particularly with Bayonne residents competing with freight trucks going to and from the ports.
The Turnpike Authority’s data projected that lane-widening would increase traffic more than if officials did nothing, and Sherrill scaled back the program earlier this year.
The agency has also been scrutinized for awarding a $1.7 billion contract to TransCore to take over its E-ZPass tolling program. That amount was $250 million higher than the bid from Conduent, the current provider.
In defending the additional spending, the turnpike said TransCore’s bid score outperformed Conduent and that it valued the use of domestic labor, which led to higher costs. Conduent sued over the bid award; the company is represented by Josephson, a partner at Duane Morris LLP.
Supporters of a merger argue that consolidating transportation authority could reduce the cycle of short-term spending and create steadier funding channels. Skeptics worry the result could be a different kind of short-term—one driven by politics over which projects win access to a larger pool.
That fear maps onto a broader question raised by other states and agencies: whether moving money and oversight into one structure can produce flexibility without losing fairness.
New Jersey, proponents say, does not have to look far. The “Maryland model” is often cited, named for a state that began consolidating transportation agencies in the 1970s. Today. Maryland Department of Transportation includes state highways and toll roads. ports. airports. bridges. tunnels. the Department of Motor Vehicles. commuter trains. light rail and bus networks.
John Porcari. who led Maryland’s Transportation Department from 1999 to 2003 and 2007 to 2009 and advised Sherrill on transportation issues during her transition to governor. said one transportation fund gives the state “financial flexibility” to support the best projects that prioritize moving people around the state through a multi-modal perspective.
“With that, siloed agencies plan and invest precious capital dollars without thinking more holistically,” Porcari said.
He also pointed to the vulnerability of uncertain funding. “It’s amazing to me, from the outside, that [NJ Transit has] been able to subsist on uncertain and irregular contributions from the Turnpike Authority,” he added. “Financially, you can’t live that way.”
As congestion and mobility challenges grow. Porcari’s argument is matched by calls from advocates who want a clearer role for integrated planning. Tom Wright. president of the Regional Plan Association. said more creative solutions will be needed as the state’s population grows. North Jersey becomes more congested. and traffic fatalities continue to outpace pre-COVID numbers.
“Figuring out what the mobility future of that part of the state is is really something this entity could take a leadership role in,” Wright said.
Still, the idea has to survive the Legislature.
Sherrill said a merger would require study and would have to be the “best return on investment.” She also said the Legislature would need to pass bills to make it happen. That means the political reality—who gets to decide, and how—will be as important as the operational goal.
Count state Sen. Paul Sarlo among the skeptics. Sarlo. who chairs the chamber’s budget committee. said Kolluri did a “nice job” conveying a unified approach to how New Jersey moves people across DOT roadways. toll roads. and mass transportation. Sarlo told NorthJersey.com after an April 9 transportation budget hearing that Kolluri “is capable of managing both these agencies.”.
“But I don’t think we’re ready to combine those two agencies,” Sarlo added.
Not everyone shares that stance. State Sen. Vin Gopal introduced a bill with state Sen. Michael Testa—a Republican—to create a task force to study the idea. State Assemblyman Andrew Macurdy. a Democrat representing commuter-heavy towns in Middlesex. Morris. Somerset and Union counties. introduced a bill with a proposal on how to accomplish a merger.
Macurdy said he wanted to tackle such a complex issue because he heard residents say. “’I don’t want to hear about partisan politics. I want to hear about solutions. ‘” and the bill would “make sure that we are making a holistic. comprehensive decision about how we’re doing our capital planning. our budgeting. making things go faster. more efficiently and more effectively.”.
“The appointment of Kris Kolluri to both NJ Transit and turnpike suggest at least a willingness to think in that same direction,” Macurdy said.
For now, the merger debate is still shaped by one concrete step: a single leader tasked with coordinating two agencies that have long operated in separate lanes. Sherrill’s bet is that coordination can be proven—storm by storm, event by event—before the state decides whether to go further.
The stakes are clear either way. If NJ Transit cannot plan and replace what’s breaking down, riders feel it in canceled trips—1,665 last year alone due to broken-down trains. If the Turnpike Authority’s large spending decisions continue to draw controversy, trust becomes harder to build.
Whether the state chooses integration or keeps distinct systems, one question now shadows every transportation conversation in New Jersey: who gets to steer, and who finally gets held responsible when the next failure—or the next opportunity—arrives.
NJ Transit New Jersey Turnpike Authority Kris Kolluri Mikie Sherrill transportation merger Transportation Trust Fund E-ZPass contract Driscoll Bridge World Cup MetLife Stadium Maryland model