The MBTA has announced that it has temporarily paused nearly all contractor work, as the agency says it works to improve safety for its work crews. This stoppage comes the same day as MBTA leadership announced a personnel shakeup that demoted at least two longtime leaders and reassigned other staff.
The 48-hour pause, which started on Wednesday and will continue through the end of Friday, came amid new reports of trains failing to stop, despite being flagged to do so by track inspection crews.
The MBTA said that the contractor work pause impacts all work not being done inside of an established diversion area. Work was said to be continuing on the Red Line.
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A statement from MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng said he was working to ensure "our employees have the appropriate tools, clear direction and resources to enable them to successfully perform their functions."
"We are rebuilding and reorganizing the workforce, top to bottom, to ensure we have the right people in place at all levels to implement the changes required to bring meaningful, long-lasting systemic solutions," Eng said in his statement. "T management needs to ensure that we are implementing improved procedures and following through on our commitments. This is a team effort with the FTA, DPU, and our labor unions, and we all share the common goal of a safe and reliable MBTA."
Part of that reorganizing, according to a letter Eng sent to employees Friday, includes moving Acting Chief Operating Officer Erik Stoothoff and Acting Deputy Chief Operating Officer Kat Benesh back to their previous roles as deputy chief engineer and chief of operations strategy. The role of chief operating officer will be filled by Ryan Coholan.
Other changes include Deirdre Habershaw moving to act as chief of staff to Coholan, Jody Ray being named as senior director of Maintenance of Way, and the appointment of Tim Lesniak as chief safety officer, among others.
"This is not about the status quo but about careful, meaningful restructuring to put people in the best position to succeed based on their talents and experience. We owe it to the public and the workforce," Eng wrote in a statement.
See the full text of the letter to employees at the bottom of this story.
Earlier this week, a Red Line train failed to come to a halt for a crew that was doing track inspections, despite someone flagging the train to stop, according to an MBTA spokesman, who said this week's incident was preceded by a similar one last week.
No one was hurt during the incidents, which are being investigated by the MBTA; the Federal Transit Administration and the Department of Public Utilities have also been notified.
Eng's letter to employees
September 22, 2023 Dear Colleagues, Over the past six months, I have had the opportunity to interact with staff across the agency and I cannot thank you enough for your willingness to take time to share your thoughts with me. I’ve taken this time to thoughtfully assess how to better position us as we continue to address the many challenges we are facing and how best to support our workforce in that endeavor. This is about the success of each one of us working collaboratively as a team. What I’ve found are employees across the Authority giving their best every day, often under trying circumstances. As General Manager, it’s my responsibility to place employees in positions to succeed and build a team that will lead our efforts and return the MBTA to the greatness it once was, delivering safe, reliable, and robust service to the public. To best serve the Commonwealth, we need to ensure that our proud workforce is both engaged and supported with all the tools, direction, and support necessary to be safe and successful. If we invest in our workforce, it’s a sound investment for the T and a great investment for the people we serve. I thank everyone for their unwavering efforts and commitment to public service. With that, effective today, I have made changes to restructure and reinforce our management team under four major divisions: Operations, Safety, Capital, and Administration. These permanent appointments will empower employees with decision making authority that I believe will foster the necessary stability and continuity our workforce is looking for. Operations As a direct report to me, I’m pleased that Ryan Coholan has accepted the role of Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Deirdre Habershaw as Chief of Staff to the COO. Ryan has previously served the MBTA as our Chief Railroad Officer and Dierdre demonstrated her ability to lead as Assistant General Manager of Operations, Planning, Scheduling and Strategy. The MBTA will create Executive Director roles to lead each of its modes: Commuter Rail, Water Transportation, Rail Transportation, Paratransit Services, and Bus Transportation. The Executive Directors will report to the COO and be accountable for all aspects of the safety, service, quality, and reliability of their service. Jody Ray has been named Senior Director of Maintenance of Way and will lead the MOW Department reporting to Chief Doug Connett. I wish to thank Erik Stoothoff, Acting Chief Operating Officer and Kat Benesh, Acting Deputy Chief Operating Officer for stepping up when the agency needed them to take on these critical roles. I thank them for their tireless efforts and personal sacrifice in these 24/7 roles. At this time Kat will be returning to her role as Chief of Operations Strategy and Erik will take on the role of Deputy Chief Engineer, supporting delivery of the capital program and reporting to Chief Engineer Sam Zhou. Safety Tim Lesniak has been appointed as our Chief Safety Officer. Capital All capital delivery departments at the MBTA will be brought together under the leadership of Chief Engineer Sam Zhou. The Engineering and Capital Division includes all Capital Programs, Green Line Extension (GLX), South Coast Rail, and the Office of the Chief Engineer. Chief Engineer Zhou will report directly to the General Manager. Administration Scott Bosworth will lead the new Transit Oriented Development (TOD) department in the Administration Division focused on Public-Private Partnerships and will play a primary role in fulfilling Governor Healey’s housing goals. The existing TOD team will become part of the new department. General Manager’s Office Katie Choe has accepted the role of Chief of Staff. The Customer Experience Department is now the Customer and Employee Experience Department led by Danny Levy who now has the position of Chief Customer and Employee Experience Officer. Danny and her team are responsible for customer and employee engagement. Meredith Sandberg has been appointed as Chief of Quality, Compliance & Oversight. Lynsey Heffernan’s position is now Assistant General Manager for Policy and Strategic Planning. All long-term planning functions will be centralized within the General Manager’s office under AGM Heffernan’s direction. Capital Program Planning will be moved to Policy and Strategic Planning and Jillian Linnell’s title is now Executive Director of Capital Strategy. Capital Program Planning will continue to oversee our grants and the annual Capital Investment Plan development. I want to thank Deputy General Manager Jeff Gonneville as he focuses his attention with his deep institutional knowledge supporting me with agency wide strategic initiatives including resetting important partnerships critical to the success of the MBTA, starting with serving as lead negotiator for the CRRC Vehicle Procurement contract. Deputy General Manager Gonneville's accession within the organization should be a model for all the new hires and current employees demonstrating the career opportunities that exist through dedication in every role. During his more than 34 years of proud and dedicated service at the MBTA serving the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Jeff has held the combined roles of Chief Operating Officer, Acting General Manager and Deputy General Manager, and the MBTA is indebted to him for his service. Earlier this month I shared with employees how we have reached a pivotal moment at the MBTA and that we need to ask ourselves how we can do better. I believe these personnel adjustments and department realignments will position the Authority to begin implementing positive changes and begin rebuilding trust with our customers, stakeholders, and our state and federal partners. Additional information on the management plan will be shared with Department managers under separate cover and posted on TSTOP. Thank you all for your continued dedication to the MBTA. |
