10/30/2025
Meet Monica Smith, Director of Transportation 👋
From her ranch in Princeton to the busy shuttle routes of Montclair State University, Monica Smith’s day begins long before most of us have our first coffee. After an hour-long commute from home – where she and her husband care for a flock of chickens – she arrives ready to keep Montclair State University moving.
As Director of Transportation, Smith leads a 41-person team that keeps the University’s 17-vehicle fleet running nearly nonstop from early morning to late at night. Together, the team travels close to 1,000 miles a day, moving more than 1,500 passengers on a typical weekday and as many as 2,500 during campus events.
Her mornings start behind the wheel, inspecting shuttle stops across campus and making sure everything is clean, safe and ready for riders. From there, she heads into meetings with University Facilities and Residential Life to plan route updates and discuss ongoing improvements.
Beyond daily operations, Smith also plans transportation logistics for large-scale events such as Yogi Berra’s Big Catch, coordinating driver positions and shuttle timing to move thousands of people across campus in a single afternoon.
When the evening crew takes over, her day continues with emails, budgets and maintenance schedules — the behind-the-scenes work that keeps the University’s transportation system running smoothly.
After a long day surrounded by engines and asphalt, Smith returns to her Princeton home and her one-acre organic garden powered by solar panels, water reclamation and composting — the perfect balance to the fast pace of campus life.
