Beverly Scott, the outgoing Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority chief, will move into one of the state’s top transportation positions as the MBTA general manager/rail and transit administrator in December.
Scott acknowledged that a number of measures had to be on the table to pump up the deficit-ridden T, including new user fees and tolls.
Scott becomes the first woman and the second African-American to head up the T. “I have stayed in [transportation] because of the absolutely transformational impact we have on communities and we have on people,” Scott said during her public interview before the MassDOT board of directors Monday afternoon. The board’s vote for her was unanimous.
The only other finalist to appear the public session was Dwight Ferrell, Scott’s deputy in Atlanta.
Getting Scott to accept the Boston position is a coup for the Patrick administration. Under a three-year contract, Scott will be paid $220,000 a year. Her salary at MARTA is $315,000. Scott will earn more than Richard Davey, the secretary of transportation and her boss. He currently earns $150,000 and made $145,000 when he headed the T.
The decision to pay Scott a higher salary than Davey reflects the Patrick administration’s partial concession to market realities: that the state would not find a qualified individual to manage the MBTA and the rest of its rail interests unless the pay was higher. Davey told State House News Service that Scott’s salary is the 19th highest among transit system CEOs and said the MBTA is the fifth biggest transit system in the country.
Often described as a transit rock star, Scott, 61, cut her teeth in the New York, Washington, DC, and Houston transit systems. She also headed up the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority. “She’s got a national reputation,” said Paul Regan, MBTA Advisory Board’s executive director. “Frankly, when I heard that she was a finalist, I was very excited.”
MARTA is the ninth largest transit agency in the country. Scott steered the agency through a difficult period of service cutbacks and fare increases two years ago. She has had wide experience with difficult political battles. Although she recently supported a 1 percent increase in the Atlanta sales tax to fund city transportation projects, voters rejected the measure by a significant margin.
She admitted that she didn’t know much about the state or the city and said that she would begin her tenure by “listening and learning” from employees and riders.
“I think she was being a bit modest. She understands the political environment,” said Davey. “She’s able to add a new and credible voice to not only squeeze efficiencies out of the T but to acknowledge that reform alone is not enough to do what we need to do.”
Although she is under contract to MARTA until December, Scott has indicated that she would make herself available to the MassDOT board so that “she could hit the ground running” on a statewide transportation finance plan which is scheduled to be unveiled in January.
During her hour-long interview, Scott said some of her colleagues were wondering why she wanted to jump to Massachusetts. “Bev, do you have suicidal tendencies?” is how Scott summed up some of her colleagues’ reaction to her decision to pursue the Boston job after five years in Atlanta.
