A high-stakes battle over a nearly $2 billion E-ZPass contract has erupted in New Jersey, exposing alarming allegations of secrecy, favoritism, and potential foreign influence within the New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA).
At the center of the controversy is the decision to award the lucrative contract to TransCore, despite the fact that Conduent, a Newark-based company and the current contract holder, submitted a lower bid—$1.4 billion, a staggering $250 million less than TransCore’s proposal. Conduent has since launched an appeal, claiming not only that its bid was unfairly dismissed but also raising red flags about TransCore’s undisclosed ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
According to Conduent, TransCore’s parent company, Temasek, had a board member, Fu Chengyu, who was a high-ranking CCP member with connections to the United Front, a group known for exerting political influence on behalf of Beijing. The revelation has intensified scrutiny over the NJTA’s contract-awarding process and whether national security concerns were ignored.
State Senator Joe Pennacchio has emerged as one of the loudest voices demanding answers. Citing investigative reporting by Jeff Pillets of the Jersey Vindicator, Pennacchio revealed that the NJTA engaged in private meetings with TransCore to reduce its original bid—which was $500 million higher than Conduent’s—by $250 million.
“What is particularly disturbing to me,” said Pennacchio, “is that the NJTA appeared to go out of its way to steer this contract toward TransCore. Why?”
Yet, efforts to uncover the decision-making process have hit a bureaucratic wall. “The NJTA will tell you the Governor did the vetting, while the Governor refers questions back to the NJTA,” Pennacchio noted, calling the lack of transparency unacceptable. Frustrated by the runaround, the senator has taken his concerns to the federal level, writing to the U.S. State Department under the Trump Administration to demand an investigation and proper vetting of TransCore.
Conduent made its case at a January 17 meeting to protest the contract decision, but Pennacchio suggests the process was a mere formality rather than a genuine attempt at transparency. According to Pillets, the meeting was not a “public meeting” in the traditional sense—rules of evidence did not apply, witnesses were not sworn in, and cross-examination was not permitted.
“This type of opaque contractual procedure, involving nearly $2 billion in taxpayer money, is totally unacceptable,” Pennacchio said. “It must be replaced with absolute transparency.”
Beyond the contract itself, Pennacchio linked the NJTA’s questionable dealings to the recent spike in tolls. “E-ZPass and the NJTA have allowed the Garden State to quietly raise tolls over 40% in just five short years,” he said. “Now we know why.”