Employee Protective Benefits Under the Urban Mass Transportation Act

The New Jersey Commissioner of Transportation is not relieved of an obligation to make fair and equitable employee job protection arrangements for employees, even though some employees may already be covered by employee protective arrangements under the Regional Rail Reorganization Act. The employee protective requirement under the Urban Mass Transportation Act (UMTA) is mandatory and cannot be waived. Eligible employees of a state railroad operating agency are not required to exhaust protective benefits under the Regional Rail Reorganization Act before applying for similar benefits under the UMTA, since neither statute requires such an election of remedies. The Comptroller General has been charged with the responsibility of rendering decisions concerning the legality of appropriated fund expenditures involved in legal issues raised by the New Jersey Commissioner of Transportation.