Kevin S. Corbett, who has ably and confidently led New Jersey Transit since Feb. 14, 2018, has resigned effective Jan. 15, 2025 and will move on to a position at Rutgers University School of Engineering in New Jersey – CAIT (Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation). New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has appointed former New Jersey Department of Transportation Commissioner Kris Kolluri as his replacement.
“In addition to giving me a chance to spend more time with my family, I have recently accepted a new opportunity with one of our state’s prestigious universities that will allow me to remain deeply connected to the transportation sector, focusing on practical innovation, infrastructure and advocacy for our region,” Corbett wrote in a letter to NJT employees and Murphy, who appointed him as President and CEO of NJT. Corbett will be a CAIT Senior Fellow.
“I love the guy,” Murphy said, speaking to after an event in Princeton to NJ.com reporter Larry Higgs. “Seven years. Probably the most difficult job in our government. Maybe with the exception of mine, [he] inherited a mess and notwithstanding the summer that we went through … he’s done a hell of a job under extremely tough circumstances. He [was] dealt an awful hand and played it about as well as you can play it.”
Indeed, Murphy, a Democrat, is correct in praising Corbett. NJT was in disarray following years of under-investment and active neglect by Republican Gov. Chris Christie. In his letter to Murphy, Corbett said, “Serving as President and CEO of NJ Transit has been the honor of a lifetime. I am profoundly grateful for the trust Governor Murphy and the Board placed in me … the ultimate goal for any CEO is to leave their organization stronger than they found it. I know we have achieved that together. We have accomplished so much over the [past] seven years.”
A youthful 69, Corbett has decades of experience. He is credited with bringing NJT to the Dec. 31, 2020 federally mandated PTC (Positive Train Control) implementation deadline, as well as rebuilding the depleted ranks of NJT locomotive engineers. Under his guidance, NJT has led several Gateway Program projects, among them Portal North Bridge, and has embarked on several major projects of its own. The agency’s capital projects budget grew from an almost laughable $60 million in 2017 to a five-year, $17 billion capital plan—its first-ever and the nation’s second-largest behind the New York MTA—with more than $6 billion invested to date and another $8 billion to be invested over the next three years. Corbett has also been Co-Chair, with Kolluri, of the Northeast Corridor Commission.
As expected, politicians of a certain leaning took the opportunity to fire mean-spirited and just plain dumb parting shots at Corbett in feeble, pointless attempts to make themselves look good. One is Republican State Assemblyman Christopher DePhillips of Bergen County, who called Corbett’s resignation “a positive day for New Jersey commuters and taxpayers … Kevin Corbett has been tone deaf to the daily hell that New Jersey Transit commuters have faced for years, and that is why I called for his resignation … Corbett should have been fired, especially following the disastrous summer season, to send a message that we mean business.”
Yeah, OK. I wonder if this guy took NJ Transit to work every day, as Corbett did. Probably not. Frankly, I’m cringing that DePhillips, a 1983 graduate of Bergen Catholic High School taught by the same order of Irish Christian Brothers who taught me at Essex Catholic High School in Newark (I’m Class of 1977), who graduated from the same Jesuits-founded university as Corbett—Georgetown—and who earned his J.D. from Seton Hall University School of Law, would be so mean-spirited. So much for respecting your fellow human being. Dovresti vergognarti di te stesso, tu che cerchi attenzione e non hai nulla di prezioso da dire. La prossima volta pensaci prima di aprire la tua boccaccia.
We at Railway Age “love the guy” too, and look forward to continued collaboration with him as he embarks on his new assignment at Rutgers CAIT. NJT is indeed stronger than when he took the throttle, and there’s still much work to be done, building on the foundation he laid. Congratulations and Godspeed, Kevin Corbett!
