Union County Freeholder Is 1st Latino To Serve As NJTPA Chairman

ELIZABETH, NJ — Union County Freeholder Angel Estrada is the first Latino to be elected as Chair of the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority (NJTPA).

He was elected during the Jan. 22 Board of Trustees meeting.

“I am honored that my fellow Board members have chosen me to serve as chair of the NJTPA, and I am proud to become the first Latino to hold this position,” said Freeholder Estrada, who in 2004 became the first Latino ever selected as chairman of the Union County Freeholder Board. “This is a challenging time for transportation in our region, with the growing need to build additional trans-Hudson tunnels, implement new technologies and much more. I look forward to working with the Board and our many partners to improve travel for all residents of our region.”

The NJTPA oversees regional transportation planning and annually authorizes more than $1 billion in federal surface transportation funding for 13 counties in northern and central New Jersey.

Estrada has been an NJTPA trustee since 2012 and served as a Board alternate before that. He has served as Chair of the NJTPA’s Project Prioritization Committee since 2016. He previously served as chair of the Planning and Economic Development Committee in 2014.

Estrada emigrated to Elizabeth from Cuba 50 years ago and he was first elected to the Board of Chosen Freeholders in 1999 and has more than 30 years of business and public service experience. He also serves on the EZ Ride Transportation Management Association’s Board of Trustees.

Prior to being elected freeholder, he served on the Elizabeth Board of Education and Elizabeth Housing Authority. He is a former vice president of the National Association of Hispanic County Officials.

(Image via Union County: Angel Estrada)

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