Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA) General Manager Steve Poftak announced in a letter on Tuesday that he will step down on Jan. 3, 2023, two days before the next Massachusetts Governor takes office.
Poftak has been the MBTA General Manager since 2018, and is the sixth person in the role in Gov. Charlie Baker’s eight years in office.
The MBTA operates the subway system and public bus system in Boston, as well as the state’s ferries and commuter rail, including the Worcester line into Union Station in Worcester.
Senator Elizabeth Warren held hearings on the MBTA in October as Chair of the Economic Policy Subcommittee in the U.S. Senate.
Both Massachusetts senators commented on the resignation on Tuesday.
.@MBTA GM Steve Poftak’s resignation—a few weeks after I led a Senate hearing in Boston on the monumental failures of leadership at the T—is long overdue. We now have an opportunity to make needed changes and ensure our public transit system is safe, reliable and first-rate.
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) November 1, 2022
I look forward to new leadership at the MBTA who will uphold the commitments recently made to me and to T riders for safer, faster, and more reliable Boston public transit. https://t.co/EJ5rsV2GD9
— Ed Markey (@SenMarkey) November 1, 2022
Poftak’s full resignation letter can be viewed, below.
BREAKING: In letter to @MBTA employees, Gen. Mgr. Steve Poftak announces his resignation effective Jan. 3, 2023. pic.twitter.com/g0PNKHWJvi
— Streetsblog MASS (@StreetsblogMASS) November 1, 2022
