BOSTON -- Gov. Mitt Romney swore in his hand-picked successor to former Massachusetts Turnpike Chairman Matt Amorello Wednesday and called a board meeting to order.

NewsCenter 5's Janet Wu reported that new Turnpike Chairman John Cogliano said that for the first time, there would be "accountability, transparency and reform" at the agency.

Cogliano is the new chairman, but he won't be in charge of the Big Dig for long. The board voted to hire a search firm to find a new chief executive to finish the Central Artery Project.

"Traditionally, this agency has also been run for the benefit of political outsiders. Those interests will undoubtedly fight change. They may take a run at you over the coming years to do things that would be more like the practice of the past. I'd acknowledge that more important than the decisions you will make during your tenure on this board will be your insistence that this agency rebuff patronage, self-interests and favoritism always in favor of the public interest," Romney said.

Within two hours, the board voted to eliminate free tolls for Turnpike managers.

"In some cases, it could be that a portion of that is for legitimate Turnpike business -- operations people going back and forth or people going to meetings related to the Turnpike. There could be some of that," Turnpike board member Mary Connaughton said.

Unionized workers are the majority of employees and may be getting the benefit contractually, which the board cannot rescind.

The board also adopted a new policy that requires all new applicants to disclose any family members who work for the Turnpike Authority or the state.

Cogliano said that he'll be busy during the next few days firing people. He said more than a few senior management officials who worked for Amorello and haven't already quit will be getting pink slips before the end of the week.