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Gov. Healey just appointed the first MassDOT safety chief. Here’s what he’ll do.
"I would hands down tell you that they landed probably the best person in the U.S.," a former transit official said of new MassDOT Chief Safety Officer Pat Lavin.
Gov. Maura Healey fulfilled one of her campaign promises Monday by appointing Pat Lavin, a seasoned transit safety official, to the newly-created position of chief safety officer of the Department of Transportation (MassDOT).
Lavin has 40 years of experience in transportation safety and operations, most of which was spent improving safety in the New York City transit system, Healey’s office said in a news release about his appointment. He was also part of a 2019 safety audit of the MBTA.
Lavin will report directly to Secretary of Transportation Gina Fiandaca and MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng, the release said. His job will be to ensure “a safe and healthy environment for all employees, passengers, and the public, in all modes of transportation, including rail, bus, commuter rail, paratransit, and highway.”
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Lavin is set to begin his work at MassDOT on Monday, May 8, and will receive a base salary of $325,000 a year.
“As someone who was part of a recent independent safety review of the MBTA, Pat’s familiar with the challenges facing the agency,” Healey said in a tweet Monday. “I’m confident that, working together with Secretary Fiandaca and GM Eng, he’ll deliver safer service across the system.”
Lavin previously served as executive vice president and chief safety officer for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority and as senior director for operations in the Office of System Safety of New York City Transit.
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In addition to working as a transit official, Lavin has also worked for a private transit safety consulting firm. There, he performed safety assessments, developed agency-specific incident investigation procedures, and assisted transit agencies in addressing Federal Transit Administration (FTA) safety directives.
“We created this position to ensure we had a senior official coordinating efforts across all modes of transportation and driving strategies across the system to improve safety for riders and workers,” Healey said in the release. “I’m confident he will work closely with Secretary Fiandaca and General Manager Eng to deliver the service that the people of Massachusetts deserve.”
Lavin’s appointment comes shortly after Healey’s Friday announcement that she will replace three members of the MBTA’s board of directors with her own appointments.
It’s no secret that change is needed at the MBTA. Just last week, federal transit officials once again cited the transit system’s safety issues, threatening to shut down track work if it didn’t make conditions safer for workers. This came in the wake of news that workers at the MBTA were almost killed four times in the last two months.
Earlier this month, the MBTA’s new general manager started a year to the day after 39-year-old Robinson Lalin was dragged to his death when his arm became stuck between the doors of a Red Line train. Last August, an Orange Line train caught fire as it crossed the bridge over the Mystic River.
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Former NYC Transit president Carmen Bianco, who worked with Lavin on the 2019 MBTA safety audit, told The Boston Globe Monday that the public can expect to see “immediate results” under Lavin’s leadership.
“I would hands down tell you that they landed probably the best person in the U.S.,” Bianco said. “It’s an amazing catch for them, I just hope they listen to him.”
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