Repair the state’s aging roads and bridges, reduce delays on NJ Transit, expand bus service, continue progress on the Gateway Tunnel project, and, oh yeah, make sure the World Cup goes smoothly, too.
The next commissioner of the Department of Transportation will have a lot on their plate in the coming months and years.
Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill feels she has exactly the right person in Priya Jain, a civil engineer and business professional with deep experience delivering complex programs across New Jersey, the country and around the world.
On Monday, Sherrill announced her intention to nominate Jain, noting her many qualifications and capabilities.
“I am thrilled to announce Priya Jain as my nominee for Commissioner of the Department of Transportation,” she said. “A proud Morris County resident, she has advanced large scale transportation and major projects across New Jersey and the globe and understands how to build new infrastructure from the ground up.”
Jain most recently served as the President of Americas for Mace Consult, where she led strategic growth and operational excellence across the region.
With a distinguished career spanning leadership roles in global engineering and consultancy firms, Jain brought deep expertise in business development, strategy, and organizational transformation.
Prior to joining Mace, Jain served as chief growth officer at Atlas, driving enterprise-wide growth initiatives. Before that, she spearheaded Atkins’ expansion in North America as SVP for sales and strategy. She previously held senior leadership roles at CH2M, managing and delivering major client programs.
Earlier in her career, she also worked as an engineer on the ARC Tunnel project, progressing early permitting, environmental reviews and enabling infrastructure.
The intent to nominate Jain comes a little more than a week after Sherrill announced Kris Kolluri will stay as CEO of NJ Transit while also becoming the executive director of the N.J. Turnpike Authority.
Sherrill noted the impact the two will have working together.
“With Priya at the helm and Kris Kolluri overseeing both the Turnpike Authority and NJ TRANSIT, we are going to reimagine and streamline how transit is run in the state of New Jersey,” she said. “Together, we’ll cut through red tape and make sure we’re fixing our aging roads and bridges, reducing delays on NJ TRANSIT, expanding bus services to communities across the state, and continue progress on the Gateway Project.”
Jain said she was honored to get the call and eager to serve.
“New Jerseyans rely on our transit systems each and every day and as Commissioner, I plan to work closely with the Governor-elect in order to reduce commute times, make our roads and bridges safer, and improve access to transit all across the state,” she said. “We will cut through red tape and permitting delays in order to finish what we started and build the Gateway Tunnel, expand transit access in South Jersey, and repair aging roads across the state.”
Kolluri applauded Sherrill’s vision.
“Governor-elect Sherrill is taking a different approach to transportation in the Garden State and Priya is the perfect choice to help us reach those goals,” he said.
“Together, we’ll seek to reduce delays, improve communication with riders, fix aging roads and bridges, and speed permitting times to get new projects underway quickly. I look forward to working with Priya as we prepare for America’s 250th and FIFA World Cup, build the Gateway Tunnel, and improve access to mass transit options across the state.”
Beyond her corporate leadership, Jain has demonstrated inclusive management building high performing teams to drive infrastructure improvements and community development benefits. She serves on the advisory board for civil engineering at City College of New York. She also previously served on the Foundation Board of the International Bridge, Tunnel & Turnpike Association.
Jain earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and master’s degree in physics from Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani, and a master’s degree in environmental engineering from the University at Buffalo.
