Mullan, who announced last month his plans to leave the administration before the end of the year, said earlier this week no final decisions had been made.
By MATT MURPHY
and MICHAEL NORTON
BOSTON - MBTA director Richard Davey is due to be named Thursday as Gov. Deval L. Patrick's next secretary of transportation, according to a Patrick administration official who requested anonymity because the announcement had not yet been made.
Patrick plans to formally make the announcement at a 12:45 p.m. press conference at the Statehouse.
Richard Davey is seen during an interview with The Republican last year.Davey will become Patrick's fourth transportation secretary. He will replace Jeffrey Mullan who announced last month his plans to leave the administration before the end of the year, but as recently as Tuesday said no final decisions had been made.
“I think anyone who’s observed my four-and-a-half year service knows that I’ve given my all and it’s been a tremendous strain on my family and my ability to spend time with my children, and I’ll leave it at that,” Mullan said Tuesday when asked about his future. “I don’t regret for a minute the public service that I’ve provided to the Commonwealth. I’m extremely proud of the work we’ve done under the governor’s leadership and the lieutenant governor’s leadership to change the face of transportation in Massachusetts.”
The source said Mullan intends to go into the private sector. Mullan received high marks from government insiders for his grasp of transportation policies and his efforts to improve the culture within a merged bureaucracy, but has faced questions about oversight and communications surrounding Big Dig tunnel leak maintenance and problems with corroded light fixtures in the underground highway system.
Davey will take over the Department of Transportation on Sept. 1, and will decide who will fill his job as head of the MBTA, either on a permanent or interim basis, according to the source.
In March 2010, Davey was picked for the top job at the MBTA. He had previously run the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad, which provides commuter rail service to the T.
Davey has focused on improving customer service at the MBTA, often making himself available to the media and to T riders to discuss the systems strengths and weaknesses.
While ridership numbers on the MBTA are up, the system has been plagued with service problems, including some high profile breakdowns. The transportation system was infused with revenues as part of the 2009 sales tax hike, but transit advocates have recently renewed calls for new system revenues.
At the T, Davey took over for former general manager Daniel Grabauskas, who had publicly feuded with the Patrick administration over transportation policy before the T board voted to buy out his contract.
“I think it’s a terrific choice. He has both public and private sector experience and the right balance of personality and skill sets to continue implementing transportation reform,” said Sen. Steven Baddour, a Methuen Democrat who formerly co-chair the Committee on Transportation.
Baddour said that over the course of his time as Transportation Committee chairman, he had met every living former transportation secretary.
“Jeff is at the top of that list. Nobody could have implemented the Herculean task of transportation reform like Jeff,” Baddour said.
Despite the service problems of the aging T system over the past year, Baddour said Davey handled the situation as well as could be expected.
“You can’t place that on any one individual. The problems of the T are generational, and he’s managed the problems at the T as well as anyone. I think he’s up to the task and I know he’ll be a great secretary,” Baddour said.