Secretary of Transportation Monica Tibbits-Nutt is leaving the Healey administration.
Governor Maura Healey announced this morning in a press release that Tibbits-Nutt will be stepping down from her position and return to the private sector. However, she will stay on through the end of this year as an advisor, supporting MassDOT's transition to new leadership under MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng.
The Governor praised the work accomplished under Tibbits-Nutt's leadership, citing projects like the fare-free transit program for the state's Regional Transit Authorities (RTAs), the Cape Cod Bridges, the Sumner Tunnel Restoration, West/East Rail.
"These programs have already made transportation more affordable for millions of Massachusetts residents. We are grateful for Secretary Tibbits-Nutt's hard work and dedication to MassDOT and for her willingness to continue to serve as a resource for our administration," the Governor said in a press release issued this morning.
In the interim, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) General Manager Phillip Eng will as Interim Secretary, and will also continue on as General Manager of the T.
Eng emphasized the need for a transportation system that is "well-balanced... multimodal... safe, reliable and modernized" identifying how MassDOT and the MBTA "work hand-in-hand" to strive towards these goals.
Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver, who is the longest serving administrator in the department's history with over eight years in the role, has been promoted to Undersecretary of Transportation. He will manage responsibilities of both positions.
Reflecting on the future of transportation and infrastructure in Massachusetts, Gulliver looks forward to implementing "transformative upgrades... for our people and our economy."
In a media availability held earlier today, Interim Transportation Secretary Eng said he was open to holding the role "as long as its needed," while stressing his continued commitment to leading the MBTA.
He emphasized his vision for the "synergy" between public transportation and highways and bridges to unlock the freedom of movement, housing, and economic development, and the key to driving the work of both agencies forward being strong, empowered teams behind him driving the work.
Eng addressed transparency of communication between the two agencies and to the public. He also briefly discussed MassDOT's proposed reset in the bidding process for the contract to refurbish 18 travel plazas across the state after the winning bidder walked away in September, and expressed his desire to cultivate more competition for public contracts.
Gulliver added on at this point, saying the agency will spend the next couple months to "look at what the market can do, where we think we can do better, maybe specify some different things in the procurement documents" to provide the best service plazas at the best value for taxpayers.
"I will show up wherever I need to show up because it's important for the pubic to know I am going to be engaged, I am not going to step back from any of the things I've been doing," said Eng. "Even if the T wasn't serving a community directly, they need to know what we're doing at the T. Because at the end of the day, it is connectivity to everyone else... when I get out to all the parts of the state where the T is not currently, it allows me to have that dialogue with them and be in totality [with] what transportation means."
