Richard Schaefer,
Acting Senior Vice President, Capital Programs
NJ TRANSIT
Richard Schaefer was named Acting Senior Vice President of Capital Programs in July 2022. In this role, he is responsible for directing the capital programming process by allocating resources to specific capital projects and pursuing state and federal grant opportunities. He directs the planning and design for construction, repair, renovation and/or rehabilitation of NJ TRANSIT facilities and infrastructure system wide, as well as oversees project management from preliminary engineering through construction close-out, directing the program development and implementation of NJ TRANSIT’s Environmental Services functions for remediation. Additionally, he supervises establishment of engineering and architectural standards and policies corporate wide for NJ TRANSIT, directs the design and development for rolling stock and equipment purchases, and leads the strategic direction of the Capital Programs group through implementation of the 5-year capital plan and 10-year strategic plan to meet short and long-term goals and objectives.
Previously, Rich served as Chief Engineer of Design and Environmental for NJ TRANSIT, leading the capital planning effort, in-house architectural and engineering design services, the Environmental & Energy Group, and the standards & Quality Group. A structural bridge engineer by discipline, he has over 25 years of diversified experience designing and building infrastructure projects in the northeast region and nationally varying from simple overpass replacement to complex cable supported bridge rehabilitation. He has extensive experience building and implementing capital programs with a focus on buildable solutions that make the most of the dollars spent. Rich also serves as an adjunct professor at NJIT where he teaches a master’s class in bridge design. Rich is a licensed Professional Engineer in the State of New Jersey and holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the New Jersey Institute of Technology.