NJT’s Santoro calling it quits

Written by William C. Vantuono, Editor-In-Chief, Railway Age
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Steve Santoro

New Jersey Transit Executive Director Steve Santoro, who has spent 18 years with the agency, submitted his resignation to New Jersey Transportation Commissioner Rick Hammer on Jan. 5. He will be leaving in April and said he is "committed to ensuring a smooth transition for the new administration" of incoming Governor Phil Murphy.  

 

Santoro’s resignation comes as no surprise, as it is customary in the State of New Jersey for a new governor to appoint his or her own NJT Executive Director, particularly if the governor is of a different political party than the one who is being replaced. Phil Murphy is a Democrat. Chris Christie is a Republican.

Prior to his appointment as Executive Director, Santoro was in charge of NJT’s capital programs, overseeing numerous expansion and new-build projects.

“We have seen amazing projects through to completion during my career here at NJT, together working on the construction of the Hudson Bergen Light Rail, River LINE and Sandy Resiliency efforts, which will leave a lasting impression on NJT for generations to come,” Santoro said in a memo to employees. “Since having the honor and privilege of leading NJT as Executive Director, we have made improvements and customer enhancements across all of our business lines. We have improved rail safety with the installation of inward and outward facing cameras and begun the process of modernizing our rail fleet with additional multi-level cars and new locomotives. We’ve expanded capacity by utilizing larger light rail vehicles on Newark Light Rail and Hudson-Bergen Light Rail. We are advancing environmental review for expanding HBLR into Bergen County and a new Glassboro-Camden line. Our New Jersey Transit Police Department has opened a state-of-the-art Emergency Operations Center and continues to keep a vigilant watch against terrorism. We’ve progressed major projects such as a new Portal Bridge and new Raritan River Bridge that will leave the transit system in better shape for our children.”

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