More money and less bureaucracy.

Those are the recommendations of a $1.3 million audit of NJ Transit being released this morning.

Gov. Phil Murphy ordered the audit in late January to look into what has gone wrong at NJ Transit and identify the agency's weaknesses.

The 179-page report identifies failures including "inadequate, uncertain and unsustainable" funding, no technology vision and no plan to oversee $5.3 billion in capital assets.

The audit findings were reported first by Bloomberg.

The audit paints a picture of a public agency in distress, with no strategic plan, outdated technology and inadequate plans to train employees as others retire or leave.

Murphy, in a briefing at the Metuchen train station following the morning rush hour, said he was determined to fix the railroad and planned to implement the recommendations of the audit.

"The audit is what will allow us to rebuild NJ Transit," the Democratic governor said, describing how the study audit identified a "broken chain of command," recommending a streamlined leadership.

State Sen. Patrick Diegnan, D-Middlesex, said although there is no value in looking back, NJ Transit is where it is today because of eight years of inattention and neglect.

The governor added he was not going to let the audit collect dust.

"I took NJ Transit this morning and talked to commuters and engineers," Murphy said. "They want to see us fix it."

But he said it won't happen overnight.

That will not make commuters like Laura Kane of Metuchen pleased.

Kane, who introduced the governor and was asked to serve on a NJ Transit advisory committee, said she moved to Metuchen for 40-minute train ride to New York.

"This commute greatly affects my day to day life. On a good day my commute can be efficient. On a bad day my in box is filled with NJ Transit alerts," she told reporters. "Last week on Thursday, it took me three hours to get home.

Others, meanwhile, were quick to sharply criticize the audit and the agency on Twitter:

"based on the assessment we need more of your hard earned money to mismanage" — Big Bo Time (@PATH2RBNY) October 9, 2018

And while the press conference was underway, NJ Transit was announcing more train delays:

PVL train #1611, the 11:25am from Secaucus, is up to 10 min. late due to track maintenance. — NJ TRANSIT - PVL (@NJTRANSIT_PVL) October 9, 2018

The governor said communications with customers been unacceptable.

"It will be fixed and must be," he said.

Murphy signed the executive order starting the audit almost 10-months ago in the Summit train station. Murphy said he wanted the audit completed as "fast as possible" -- possibly within three months. Instead it was delayed for three months and did not get underway until May, after a $1.3 million contract was finally awarded to the North Highland Company on April 30.

Among the recommendations of the audit:

Streamlining organizational structure -

Better recruitment practices

Fixing the procurement structure

More reliable funding

Even before the audit, state officials said the long time to make major purchases and hire consultants and professionals was a major issue for the commuter railroad. NJ Transit has a 460-day procurement process for major contracts. That has delayed the purchase of badly needed new trains and buses.

The long procurement process has also been blamed for parts shortages that have sidelined trains.

NJ Transit has also been plagued by a shortage of engineers to operate trains due to retirement and a lack of training enough replacement to cover for workers who left for better jobs at other commuter railroads, officials said.

Engineer shortages have been blamed for a rash of canceled trains that leave commuters crushing aboard standing room only rush hour trains, along with unexplained absences.

Larry Higgs may be reached at lhiggs@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @commutinglarry. Find NJ.com on Facebook.