Former State Senator Bob Gordon is stepping down from his position on New Jersey Transit's board of directors when his term expires next week.

The long time public servant was one of the authors of a sweeping reform law Governor Murphy signed in 2018 overhauling the transportation agency and was considered an advocate for commuters.

Gordon's background as former chair of the Senate Transportation Committee made him an outspoken member of the board who often asked pointed questions and pressed for transparency.

He's the third person to leave New Jersey Transit's board this year, all of whom were appointed as part of that reform law.

I asked Bob Gordon why he's leaving and what it means for commuters.

It's great to see you.

Thanks for coming on the show.

So you served four years on the board for New Jersey Transit.

Now, you told the governor it's time for you to step down.

Why?

Well, you know, I wanted to complete my term, and I have taken on some new responsibilities.

I've joined an organization called Stevenson Lane Public Affairs, which is a government relations firm.

It's an opportunity that will allow me to continue keeping my hand in public policy and working on the issues that I care about.

I really feel I need to give that the time that it requires.

Do you feel like New Jersey Transit has achieved what you laid out when you wrote the legislation to bring about more transparency and start the process of reforming an agency that hadn't been through that in decades?

Well, you're right.

This the bill that Senator Weinberg and I authored, enacted in 2018 was the first revision since the creation of New Jersey Transit in 1979.

We were naive in that I don't think we didn't appreciate that every organization, including New Jersey Transit is resistant to to change.

But I do think that we we made a great deal of progress first of all we expanded the board to include a group of people with a great breadth of experience and very relevant experience.

We we created a board in which there is more transparency and I think accountability.

And while the board did, you know, has not yet established the kind of partnership with senior management that I wanted to say, the board has on a number of occasions really shaped policy.

Are you worried about your voice now being missing from that discussion?

Well, listen, I'm not essential to the operations of New Jersey Transit.

There will be others, I hope, who will be appointed, who will fulfill that function.

There are some great people on the board now who I'm sure will will continue their their good work and asking questions and probing and demanding answers from the staff top challenge that you can name for us.

Well in fiscal 26 all of the financial projections show a deficit essentially a fiscal cliff of over $900 million and there needs to be the organization needs to fill that hole and ideally find a long term stable source of funding for the organization.

There's now only going to be one member left who is a commuter someone who uses the transportation system.

The other members yourself included, have now all either not been reappointed or have chosen to leave.

We certainly hear from our our customers.

There are a number of people who are at our commenting at all of our meetings and letting us know what's what didn't happen on a particular train that should have.

But I do think it's important for the board to have people who are a real world experience of riding the rails or the busses.

Former state senator and New Jersey Transit Board chair member Bob Gordon, thank you so much.

My pleasure.

Good to see you.