State lawmakers have proposed legislation that would move safety oversight of the MBTA from the Department of Public Utilities to a new independent agency.
The bill, filed by the Joint Committee on Transportation, envisions a new agency that would act as the state safety oversight authority for the MBTA, a role that would also be extended to other public transit modes.
Oversight of the ferry system, buses, regional transit authorities and the commuter rail would fall under this new “Office of Transit Safety,” State Rep. William Straus, co-chair of the Transportation Committee, said.
“We decided that it’s more than just the Boston subway issues,” Straus said. “Even though the DPU has been tasked with oversight over ferry operations, that’s something they’ve never even attempted to do. I mean, talking decades here.”
He added, “We decided to just bring all public transit together, and at least for the safety oversight, having this one office with a single executive director.”
The office’s executive director would be appointed by a model that was copied from the Office of the Inspector General, which notably, rejected a suggestion that safety oversight of the MBTA be placed there in early May.
Straus had filed the legislation, which was considered at a joint transportation committee hearing that examined MBTA oversight proposals.
Three constitutional officers, the governor, attorney general and secretary of state, would appoint an executive director for the transit safety office by majority vote. A term would last for three years, the legislation states.
Straus described the proposed legislation as a “strong recommendation” from the Joint Committee on Transportation, based on a series of oversight hearings that examined deficiencies at the MBTA and DPU.
The hearings began amid a rare federal probe into the MBTA’s subway system. Out of that investigation came a critical report from the Federal Transit Administration, which cited concerns with the DPU’s ineffective safety oversight and lack of independence from the governor’s office.
Safety failures continued during, and after, the months-long investigation, which was prompted by a fatality that occurred on the Red Line.
If the bill is approved by the Legislature and signed by the governor, a new state safety oversight model would still have to be certified by the Federal Transit Administration, Straus said.
“As of today, the Department of Public Utilities does continue as the safety oversight agency,” Straus said. “But clearly from both the oversight hearings we had on MBTA safety and on these bills, it seems unanimous that the DPU does not belong in this role any longer.”
A spokesperson for Gov. Maura Healey’s office said “the governor will review any legislation that reaches her desk.”
The DPU did not respond to a request for comment.