Photo by James Sanna | Banker & Tradesman Staff / File
A former top safety executive at both the Washington, D.C. and New York City public transit systems will oversee safety issues at MassDOT, overseeing both the MBTA and the state’s highway system.
Gov. Maura Healey announced that Patrick Lavin has been appointed to be the first MassDOT chief safety officer, a position Healey pledged to create during her campaign in response to the T’s cavalcade of derailments, the death of a Red Line passenger and a scathing federal safety investigation.
In a press release issued by Healey’s office Monday morning, Lavin’s post was described as reporting directly to both Transportation Secretary Gina Fiandaca and MBTA General Manager Phil Eng. The job is supposed 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.”
Healey spokesperson Karissa Hand told Banker & Tradesman that MBTA Chief Safety Officer Ron Ester will report Lavin. The Boston Globe named Ester and his chief deputy, Dennis Lytton, as among the six senior MBTA officials in the safety and capital programs departments who live hundreds or thousands of miles from Boston and who appear to spend significant amounts of time out-of-state. Ester owns a home in Hanover, the Globe reported, but is still registered to vote in Chicago, where he spent many years at the Chicago Transit Authority, where his wife works and where he appears to spend “a lot” of time.
Lavin will start at MassDOT May 8.
“Pat Lavin is a dedicated public transportation expert who shares our administration’s commitment to improving safety and reliability across our transportation system, including the MBTA,” Healey said in a statement. “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. I’m confident he will work closely with Secretary Fiandaca and General Manager Eng to deliver the service that the people of Massachusetts deserve.”
Patrick Lavin
Lavin comes to the T from K & J Safety and Security Consulting Services, where he has been the director of operations safety and investigations since 2019. Healey’s office described his role there as consulting with the Federal Transit Administration to develop bus crash investigation protocols and helping transit agencies address FTA safety directives like those the T is facing following last year’s investigation.
Before this, Lavin served as chief safety officer for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) from 2016 to 2019, according to his LinkedIn page, as it sought to rebuild its safety and management operations under direct oversight of the FTA after a series of derailments and fatal incidents, including a 2009 crash that killed nine and injured 70. Healey’s office credited Lavin with implementing WMATA’s safety plan and launching new safety initiatives for passengers and WMATA workers.
Before WMATA, Lavin spent 30 years rising through the ranks of the New York City MTA, where he concluded his tenure as senior director of operations in the MTA Office of System Safety.
“Patrick Lavin is a nationally recognized expert in the field of transportation safety and has a proven track record evaluating processes and improving safety at major transit systems in the United States,” Fiandaca said in a statement. “Mr. Lavin has led collision and derailment investigations, evaluated organizations for compliance with regulations, managed multi-million-dollar budgets, and developed and implemented safety programs for public transportation systems. In addition, he has a familiarity with the MBTA having been part of an independent safety review several years ago, and he understands the sense of urgency now to identify issues and find solutions at the T. We are confident he will effectively execute strategic plans which will improve safety for everyone who travels in the state, including those who use the MBTA.”
In statements provided by Healey’s office, both Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll and Eng welcomed Lavin’s appointment.
“I am looking forward to working collaboratively with the MassDOT team, agency personnel, local stakeholders, and our federal partners to improve safety at the T and at a broader level across the state,” Lavin said in a statement issued by Healey’s office. “I am humbled by and grateful for the confidence that Governor Healey, Lieutenant Governor Driscoll and Secretary Fiandaca have placed in me, and I look forward to starting this very important work.”
