Amid calls for brand new management on the embattled transit company, MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak stated he plans to step down from his place in January.
Poftak introduced his plans in a letter to MBTA staff Tuesday, saying that his resolution got here with “mixed emotions” and that his final day on the job can be Jan. 3.
“Serving as MBTA general manager has been the experience of a lifetime and it has been my honor and privilege to work with all of you,” Poftak wrote. “While we have faced and continue to face challenges, I believe in the strength and resilience of the MBTA.”
Poftak’s resignation doesn’t embrace any kind of severance package deal, MBTA spokesperson Joe Pesaturo stated.
The transfer comes two months after the Federal Transit Administration issued a scathing report about operations, administration and security failures on the MBTA, and amid public criticism of the company’s dealing with of the Orange Line shutdown.
State and federal lawmakers held a number of hearings within the weeks that adopted the report, with U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., calling for top-to-bottom management adjustments on the T and its state oversight company, the Department of Public Utilities, at one October session.
Attorney General Maura Healey, a Democrat who’s polling far forward within the gubernatorial race, issued a transportation plan that included her intention to nominate a brand new common supervisor, if she have been to be elected.
Poftak stated that whereas he might be leaving in January, he plans to proceed to help the MBTA and its workforce, and can spend the subsequent few months “preparing for the transition to a new administration and to new leadership” on the T.
“As I look back on my four years as general manager, I take great pride in what we have accomplished together,” Poftak stated. “We kept service going, and made it better, through a global pandemic.”
He added, “And while we know we have more work to do on safety, we have made great strides as an organization, building staffing, expertise, and above all, commitment to making the system as safe as it can be.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com”