Garden State Times

State Senator Joe Pennacchio has raised concerns over the New Jersey Turnpike Authority's (NJTA) decision to award a nearly $2 billion E-ZPass contract to TransCore. According to Pennacchio, investigations have revealed issues with how the NJTA handles contract awards.

Conduent, based in Newark, New Jersey, currently holds the E-ZPass contract and had submitted a lower bid of $1.4 billion, which was $250 million less than TransCore's offer. Conduent is appealing the decision and alleges that TransCore did not disclose its connections to the Chinese Communist Party. Temasek, TransCore's parent company, reportedly had a board member, Fu Chengyu, linked to the Chinese Communist Party and an influencer group called the United Front.

Pennacchio expressed his concerns about private meetings held between NJTA and TransCore. "What is particularly disturbing to me," said Pennacchio, "is that the NJTA held private meetings with TransCore to get their original bid which was $500 million more than Conduent down by $250 million." He referenced investigative work by Jeff Pillets from the Jersey Vindicator. "It would seem that the turnpike authority went out of their way to award this almost $2 billion contract to TransCore – why?" questioned Pennacchio.

The senator noted that questions regarding the contract's vetting process remain unanswered. “The NJTA will tell you the Governor did the vetting, while the Governor refers questions to the NJ Turnpike Authority,” he stated. In response, Pennacchio sent a letter to the Trump Administration State Department requesting an investigation into TransCore.

During a meeting on January 17, 2025, Conduent expressed its protest against the contract award process. According to Jeff Pillet’s articles, this meeting was not public and lacked formal procedures such as sworn testimony or cross-examination. Pennacchio criticized this approach: “This type of opaque contractual procedure of awarding nearly $2 billion is totally unacceptable and must be replaced with absolute transparency.”

Pennacchio concluded by highlighting toll increases in New Jersey: “E-ZPass and the NJTA have allowed the Garden State to quietly raise tolls over 40% in just five short years; now we know why.”