Executive Director, NJ TRANSIT
A 1963 graduate of Nutley High School, Richard Sarles’ yearbook photo is accompanied by this description, “Surprise tests annoy Rich, who enjoyed history with Mr. Huntoon. The Washington trip and the senior courtyard rate high with him. He also likes to watch the ‘Defenders’ and he hopes to be a civil engineer.” (“Exit,” 1963) His German teacher, Joanna Conrad, remembers him as, “a solid, conscientious, serious student.” (Nutley Hall of Fame Nomination, Joanna Conrad, 2009)
Richard Sarles became a civil engineer and serves today as the Executive Director of NJ TRANSIT, the third largest transit agency in the nation and the largest statewide agency. Appointed April 2, 2007, Mr. Sarles is responsible for the agency’s bus, light rail and commuter rail network, which is used by more than 2.4 million people every year. He oversees the agency’s 10,000 employees and capital and operating budgets totaling more than $2 billion annually.
Prior to being appointed Executive Director, he had been NJ TRANSIT’s Assistant Executive Director for Capital Programs and Planning since 2002. In that capacity, he managed the agency’s $1.3 billion annual capital program as well as all three light rail operations in the state.
A professional engineer, he previously served for more than 20 years in construction, project management and project planning roles with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. He also served at Amtrak from 1996 until 2002 as a Vice President leading the NEC High-Speed Rail Program and subsequently leading capital program management for capital projects across the nation.
During his tenure with the Port Authority, he led a successful effort to bring a major rail car manufacturer to the region to overhaul and manufacture new PATH cars, creating thousands of local jobs. He oversaw the modernization of major trans-Hudson facilities, including vehicular tunnels, bridges and PATH. Later, he directed the National Railroad Passenger Corporation’s $2 billion high-speed rail project that brought 150-mph train service to the Northeast Corridor and electrified the railroad for the first time in history from New Haven, CT to Boston, MA.
Richard Sarles reinvented the process of designing rolling stock with greater customer and employee input into the design and operation of the equipment. He opened River LINE light rail service in southern New Jersey and oversaw the extension of both the Newark Light Rail and Hudson Bergen Light Rail services.
Mr. Sarles holds a Master in Business Administration from Rutgers University and a Bachelor of Engineering from The Cooper Union. He was born in Passaic and grew up in Nutley at 38 Friedland Avenue. He is the father of three children and has four grandchildren all of whom live in New Jersey.