NEW YORK (TIP): Former New Jersey Transportation Commissioner Kris Kolluri will serve as interim president and CEO of NJ Transit, succeeding Kevin Corbett, who previously announced he is stepping down from the position on Jan 15, 2025. The Indian American executive is reported to have agreed to run the transportation agency until Gov Phil Murphy’s administration ends in January 2026.
Kolluri most recently headed the Gateway Development Commission, an agency overseeing the construction of a new tunnel under the Hudson River between New Jersey and New York. He resigned in July after securing a $6.9 billion grant from the Federal Transit Administration for the $16 billion tunnel project.
Kolluri served as transportation commissioner during the first three years of Gov. Jon Corzine’s administration.  He was the president and CEO of the Camden Community Partnership and a former CEO of the Rowan University-Rutgers Camden Board of Governors.
In 2006 and 2007, he served brief stints as acting governor of New Jersey while Corzine was out of state, becoming the first Asian American to serve in the role.
Kolluri served as the Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Transportation (DOT), where he served as chairman of NJ Transit, the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, and the South Jersey Transportation Authority. While at DOT, he “played an instrumental role in helping develop a funding strategy to meet New Jersey’s contribution towards the ARC project, a nationally significant rail tunnel project that would have connected New Jersey and New York,” He oversaw a total of 17,000 employees, more than $3.6 billion in capital funds, and over $2 billion in operating funds.
Before his appointment to the Rowan University-Rutgers Camden Board of Governors, he served as counsel at the law firm of Windels Marx Lane and Mittendorf, where he advised clients on transportation and economic development matters. He also served as the chief executive officer of the New Jersey Schools Development Authority. He has a Bachelor of Science from Rutgers University – Camden and a Juris Doctor degree from Georgetown University.