MBTA: Ramirez out, Poftak in as GM

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) General Manager Luis Ramirez has stepped down and is being succeeded by Steve Poftak, Massachusetts Transportation Secretary and Chief Executive Officer Stephanie Pollack announced yesterday.

Ramirez is out after just 15 months on the job. The authority and Ramirez "mutually agreed that the time was right for him to separate from the MBTA and pursue other opportunities," according to a Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) press release.

"I was brought in to the MBTA from the outside corporate world to bring a fresh business perspective and skills to the MBTA," Ramirez said. "With the progress we have achieved around financial and operational execution, this is a good time to transition to someone with different skill sets."

Poftak has been serving as the MBTA's Fiscal and Management Control Board's (FMCB) vice chair. He served as the agency’s interim GM for two months before Ramirez was named to the post. To serve as GM, Poftak is stepping down from his current position of executive director of the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston at the Harvard Kennedy School, where he has served in that role for six and a half years.

Poftak "brings to the position a deep knowledge of MBTA operations and finances, 16 years of public policy experience, a network of relationships, familiarity with the key challenges facing the authority and a passion for public transportation," MassDOT officials said.

Poftak said he was looking forward to working with the FCMB, the MBTA workforce and Baker administration officials.

"The more I have been exposed to the MBTA's workings from the inside, the greater respect I have for the ability of the MBTA workforce and managers to operate this enormously complex system every day and to develop and implement ways to improve performance," said Poftak. "I am excited about leading the MBTA to provide a premier region with a premier transit agency."

The leadership change is the fifth to occur at MBTA under Gov. Charlie Baker and "highlights the often-tumultuous efforts to improve service" since the transit system struggled to serve riders during harsh winter weather in 2015, The Boston Globe reported.