Among the measures commissioners approved were opening the bistate agency's books to regular audits; complying with open-records laws; ending closed-door caucus sessions, and banning no-bid contracts and the hiring of family of employees, even for summer jobs as substitute toll-takers.
The DRPA also will stop doing economic development work unrelated to the four bridges and PATCO train line it operates, all of which connect New Jersey and Pennsylvania in the Philadelphia areas.
"Today, this board will change the culture of how we do DRPA business," Vice Chairman Jeff Nash said.
The board also considered but delayed action on eliminating some executive positions, halting all charitable contributions and retaining toll discounts for regular commuters, senior citizens and hybrid car drivers due to expire Sept. 1. Those issues are slated for debate at a special meeting next week, likely on Wednesday.
Over its 90 years, the DRPA has been a complicated institution where officials from Pennsylvania and New Jersey have to agree to get anything done.
Its board of commissioners, mostly appointed by the governors, is an all-star team of political figures from two states known for rough politics. The current roster includes four labor officials, two members of Philadelphia's city council, a Camden County freeholder, Pennsylvania's auditor general and state treasurer and - for good measure - a former Pennsylvania state treasurer.
The authority's job got bigger and harder in 1992, when Congress allowed the agency to start doing economic development work. Since then, it's spent some $400 million on projects with little to do with transportation.
Its recipients have included four professional sports stadiums, the Constitution Center and the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, and an aquarium in Camden.
Since then, tolls paid by drivers heading from New Jersey to Pennsylvania have jumped from $2 to $4, with plans to raise them to $5 next year. The aging bridges need work and the PATCO train cars are the originals from 1967, making them the oldest commuter train fleet in the nation, according to officials.
In 2008, the agency pledged to stop using new toll money on some projects. But until Wednesday's new rule, it continued to use funds already allocated for economic development. Those funds historically has been divided evenly between Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and it's been taken advantage of by governors of both states from both political parties.
"I hope that in the future, this is not going to continue to be the political piggy bank of governors," said Rob McCord, a board member and the current Pennsylvania state treasurer.
Board chairman John Estey, a former chief of staff to Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, and DRPA CEO John Matheussen both said Wednesday that they could support Congress stripping the agency of its grant-making role entirely.
The largess of these types of public authorities, from sewer commissions to bridge operators have been particular targets of New Jersey's first-year Republican Gov. Chris Christie. Both he and Pennsylvania's Rendell submitted lists of changes that they wanted to be made.
While the reforms address many components of the agency's workings, they were touched off by a particular scandal last month. The agency's top security officials admitted that his daughter had been using a free E-ZPass transponder from one of his colleagues.
The official, Mike Joyce, resigned quickly and the employee perk for free train fare or bridge passage was rescinded. But broader complaints about the DRPA started rolling in from activists, both governors, and even the board's own members.
"We're not talking about an agency that's pristine clean right now," said board member John Dougherty, a union official who has run for mayor of Philadelphia. "We're trying to take things to a level where people, taxpayers, tollpayers have a little bit of comfort."
Board member and Philadelphia city councilman Frank DiCicco suggested Wednesday that the entire board be replaced. After a pause, he explained, "I'm serious about that."
Board members also said they would like a greater role in approving day-to-day expenses, including making sure nine employees issued credit cards by the agency aren't abusing them.
They agreed to approve paying nearly all the agency's bills in public sessions - something that will make meetings longer, at least.
Community members attending the meeting called for investigations into the agency's plans to expand its PATCO train line into New Jersey's Gloucester County and its $500,000 grant to help build a new museum for the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia.
They also criticized DRPA rules that seem to give preferential treatment to certain building contractors and trade unions.
