New Jersey Transit Chief Executive Officer Kevin Corbett will resign. After spending seven years as the agency’s CEO, Corbett will leave to “pursue a new career opportunity.”
“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 the agency, according to Larry Higgs of NJ.com.
Corbett has overseen New Jersey Transit through a tough period. Since the COVID-19 virus began to spread in 2020, the agency says ridership has remained below pre-pandemic levels for five consecutive years, resulting in a loss of nearly $2 billion. The agency also claims it has “has held the line on fare increases while not only improving service performance.” However, New Jersey Transit has raised ticket prices five times in the last quarter century, including a 25% increase in 2010, a 9% increase in 2015 and a 15% increase in 2024 followed by a continued 3% annual fare hike. Furthermore, New Jersey Transit canceled nearly 3,400 trains from January to August, nearly seven times more than Metro-North and Long Island Railroad combined during the same period.
“NJ Transit CEO Kevin Corbett has been a cheerleader of public relations and made excuses for the agency while it canceled buses and trains, failed to communicate with riders, and bungled improvement projects,” Ryan Femlet, a Union County, New Jersey resident, wrote for NorthJersey.com.
“There is no excuse to continue employing a CEO with a dismal record as Corbett.”
Corbett nor New Jersey Transit has formally announced the resignation or a replacement.
