Christie picks transportation leaders

Christie has selected Jim Simpson to be state Transportation Commissioner. Christie praises Simpson’s experience as federal transportation administrator in the Bush Administration and a former New York City Metropolitan Transportation Authority commissioner.

Governor-elect Chris Christie continues to shape his cabinet with the announcement of his top transportation nominees.

Listen:
[audio: 100111PGDOT.mp3]

Christie has selected Jim Simpson to be State Transportation Commissioner. Christie praises Simpson’s experience as federal transportation administrator in the Bush Administration and a former New York City Metropolitan Transportation Authority commissioner.

Simpson says he’ll try to find ways to fix the nearly-cash-depleted Transportation Trust Fund without raising the state gas tax.

Simpson: We need to look beyond the gas tax. We need to look at public-private partnerships. We need to look at even the funding on the New Jersey turnpike, the demand pricing for tolling. There’s a whole host of things that we need to look at. We just can’t go back to the same old paradigm and let’s increase the gas tax which is not sustainable.

Christie has also selected former State Transportation Commissioner Jim Wienstein to be the new executive director of New Jersey Transit.