Warren County Freeholder Jason J. Sarnoski was elected Secretary of the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority (NJTPA), a key post on the Executive Board, at its January 13 Board of Trustees meeting.

“I want to thank my fellow Board members for electing me to the Executive Committee,” Freeholder Sarnoski said. “The NJTPA plays an important role, coordinating regional transportation planning efforts and prioritizing funding while considering the needs a diverse region of urban, suburban and rural communities.”

Sarnoski continued, “The NJTPA has helped create a vision for a regional greenway that connects Warren County to Husdon County along the former Morris Canal and has funded important local efforts, including our recent update to the Warren County Transportation Technical Study.”

The NJTPA oversees regional transportation planning and annually authorizes more than $1 billion in federal surface transportation funding for 13 counties in northern and central New Jersey.

The Executive Committee provides guidance and leadership to the full Board on a wide range of planning, policy and administrative issues. It meets as needed to review financial, personnel and policy matters. Board membership is an uncompensated position.

Sarnoski was elected to the Warren County Board of Chosen Freeholders in 2010 and joined the NJTPA Board of Trustees in 2011. This is his first time serving on the Board’s Executive Committee. He most recently served as a member of the Planning & Economic Development Committee.

In addition to Freeholder Sarnoski, the elected members of the NJTPA Executive Committee are: Morris County Freeholder Kathryn A. DeFillippo, Chair; Passaic County Freeholder John Bartlett, First Vice-Chair; and Ocean County Freeholder John P. Kelly, Second Vice-Chair. In accordance with the bylaws, Freeholder DeFillippo appointed Middlesex County Freeholder Charles Kenny to the position of Third Vice-Chair.

The NJTPA is the metropolitan planning organization (MPO) for 13 northern New Jersey counties. Under federal legislation, MPOs provide a forum where local officials, public transportation providers and state agency representatives can come together and cooperatively plan to meet the region’s current and future transportation needs. It establishes the region’s eligibility to receive federal tax dollars for transportation projects.

The NJTPA Board consists of one local elected official from each of the 13 counties in the region (Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Union and Warren), and the cities of Newark and Jersey City. The Board also includes a Governor’s Representative, the Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Transportation, the Executive Director of NJ TRANSIT, the Chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and a Citizen’s Representative appointed by the Governor.