in 1982, congress had mandated that conrail, the government-created corporation that took over the freight operations of many bankrupt private railways in the northeast and midwest, stop providing passenger service, which it had not done well in any event. the commuter rail lines that conrail had operated in new jersey, mostly in the new york city metropolitan area but one crossing south jersey from atlantic city to philadelphia, were thus transferred to new jersey transit, created three years earlier to take over bus services around the state that private companies could no longer provide. sheridan completed this takeover by the end of kean's first term in 1985; he served on nj transit's board for several years afterwards.