24th Meeting Wednesday, October 5, :00 p.m. This report is available on MassDOT s website at

Transcription

1 Massachusetts Department of Transportation Secretary s Report Meeting of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation Board Room, 10 Park Plaza, Boston, Massachusetts 24th Meeting Wednesday, October 5, :00 p.m. Report of the Secretary This report is available on MassDOT s website at 1. Opening Remarks During the month of September we focused on putting my leadership and senior management team in place. There have also been many department moves to position people in a close physical proximity in order to maximize productivity in strategic teams. We have also been focusing on some of the major game changing initiatives that we can put in place during the first 90 days of this transition. I am pleased to announce that one such initiative is the launch of MassDOT University with a Grand Opening Celebration on October 11, 2011 at noon outside the Transportation Library and Resource Center at 10 Park Plaza. As of September 30 th information about various training activities is available for employee to view on both the MassDOT TransNet and the MBTA Intranet. I hope Board members will be able to join me at noon on October 11 th to mark this important event. 2. Personnel Appointments Personnel changes continue to take place, and this month I wish to announce: Rachael Rollins has been appointed as General Counsel of MassDOT as of October 3, She comes to us from the United States Attorney s Office, where she had substantial experience investigating and prosecuting both civil and criminal cases, defending its agencies in a wide array of civil suits brought against the government; brought actions to enforce federal regulatory requirements and to recover damages against those who committed frauds against the government; and investigated and prosecuted federal criminal firearms offenses. Rachael is the President Elect of the Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association, co-chairs the BBA Diversity and Inclusion section's Mentoring Program and is a board member of the Thompson Island Outward Bound School and Greater Boston Legal Services. Rachael resides in West Medford. Albert Shaw who has been appointed Senior Advisor and Assistant to the Secretary has over thirty five years experience in management and operations. Since joining MassDOT in 2008, Al has directed a number of collaborative initiatives between transportation agencies and service providers. Al administered the start up and implementation of the MassDOT s Office of Leading the Nation in Transportation Excellence Ten Park Plaza, Suite 3170, Boston, MA Tel: , TDD:

2 Performance Management, as required by the 2009 Reform Act. Prior to his joining state service, Al was the founder and President of a private management consulting firm and the Massachusetts Minority Business Roundtable. Al, a former member of the MBTA Board, lives in Brookline with his family. Thomas Dugan who was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff has been with the department since His duties have included serving as a project manager for the implementation of the 2009 Reform Legislation, expanding the department s performance management program and leading a number of other strategic initiatives. Prior to joining MassDOT, Thom served as a Fiscal Policy Analyst with the Executive Office for Administration and Finance where he worked on transportation finance, reform and other budgetary programs and policies. He has an extensive background in environmental issues, including municipal and state finance and governance. He is a graduate of Hartwick College. He is the Vice-Chair of the North Andover Finance Committee and resides in North Andover with his family. Celia Blue who joins the team as Assistant Secretary, Performance Management and Innovation has served MassDOT and the Commonwealth in the position of Deputy Registrar for the Registry of Motor Vehicles. As one of the Registrar s senior advisors, Celia assisted in strategic planning, policy making decisions and implementation of various Registry initiatives. Under Celia s leadership, the customer wait time at the RMV branches and call center was reduced by more than 50%. Recently, Celia has overseen the implementation of the RMV s innovative partnership with AAA which allows AAA members license and registration renewal services at selected AAA locations. Prior to joining MassDOT, Celia spent many years in the private sector in leadership roles focusing on customer service and operational management. Celia earned her Bachelor of Science degree from Worcester State College and holds a Masters in Business Administration degree from Anna Maria College. Celia sits on the boards of a number of civic and community organizations in Central and Eastern Massachusetts. 3. MassDOT Employee Recognition Program I am pleased to announce the Employee of the Month Award recipients for October. This month 2 individuals were selected, Rick Conard and Bassam Sam Salfity. Both men were selected because of their excellent customer service skills. This month s recipients recognize that good external customer service begins with providing excellent internal customer service. Both recipients have actively mentored our student interns and new employees.

3 Rick Conard is the Records Supervisor in the Highway s Crash Division. Rick oversees the work of several employees and summer interns. He recognizes that managing his employees with dignity and respect contributes to the quality of performing his duties. Rick s fair, patient and guiding hand has turned around some employees to make them become productive members of the MassDOT team. He is so well-respected that he has been called upon to assist managers in other units who were dealing with employee performance issues. Rick also trains new employees and interns in the crash records system. His trainees are taught early on to strive for excellence in their work for MassDOT. For these reasons Rick was selected as our Employees of the Month. Joining him in sharing this honor is Bassam Sam Salfity, a Civil Engineer IV at Highway District 4. His internal customer service accomplishments included his mentoring of several college students, mostly aspiring engineers, who were assigned to various [divisions] within District 4 each summer. He not only welcomes the interns with his friendly and helpful demeanor, he also makes sure that they have an opportunity to observe and participate in the core functions of the Highway Division. Sam instituted Sam s Bistro which is the cookout he organized and hosted for the Intern s last day at MassDOT. More than 60 employees attended the cookout. If a new employee joins District 4, Sam is the Ambassador who introduces the new employee to other employees. Several interns, who have gone through our summer program, have become full time employees upon graduation, thus illustrating the Intern Programs benefits to both the interns and to MassDOT. As the second October Employee of the Month, Sam exemplifies an internal customer service friendliness that all MassDOT employees should emulate. I proudly present to you Rick Conard and Sam Salfity as MassDOT s October Employee Recognition recipients. Additionally, we also want to acknowledge the bravery of Roberto Russell, a Red Line Inspector, who rescued a male customer that fell on the tracks at Park Street Station, after returning from an event on the Common promoting decriminalization of marijuana. Inspector Russell saw the man fall and immediately radioed central control to alert the oncoming train. The train stopped in time, just a few feet from the injured man. Roberto Russell helped the customer off the tracks and averted what could have been a tragedy. Operation Control Center Dispatcher Gary John is also being recognized for the role he played in alerting the incoming train to stop because a passenger fell on the track. He also played a critical role in shutting off power to ensure the safety of the passenger and his co-worker. You will be hearing more about Roberto Russell during the GM s Report, but we should all be proud of the lifesaving action taken by these employees. 4. Financial Report I have attached to this report the Consolidated FY 2012 Operating Budget vs. Expenditure Report for July and August.

4 Operating revenues are $1.7 million or 2.7% over budget. Toll revenues are trending slightly ahead of the two month budget; even after the estimated loss of $500,000 in revenue due to Hurricane Irene. Investment income is trending ahead of budget, mostly due to higher than anticipated cash balances in our accounts. Departmental revenue is trending below budget due to the timing of receipts. We will continue to monitor this trend. Operating expenditures are $28.8 million or 16% under budget. This is due to the following: Pay-GO (cash) capital expenditures are $18.5 million behind schedule due to longer than anticipated project design requirements. Our expectation is that capital expenditures will increase significantly in the third and fourth quarters as project design requirements are met. Continued hiring controls, monitoring of vacancies and benefits of health care reform have resulted in payroll and benefits coming $2.2 million under plan. Payment accruals and historical underspending during the first two quarters of the year in utilities, license productions and other categories have resulted in a $7.9 million surplus to date. We anticipate that this underspending is a timing issue as expenditures in these areas will increase in the third and fourth quarters. 5. Natural Disaster Update We continue to recover from the damage caused by Hurricane Irene. Portions of Route 2 between Florida and Charlemont, MA remain impassable due to the significant damage. This segment of the roadway was severely undermined and remains unstable. We continue to be concerned about slope failures, mud slides, culvert and retaining wall damage, and erosion of bridge approaches. Repairs, which are underway are estimated at $34.5 million and are expected to be completed by this winter. 6. Paratransit Commission As you know, the Commission formed pursuant to Governor Patrick s Executive Order 530, to examine and make suggestions to improve and reform community, social service and paratransit transportation, held its first meeting on August 25, Six additional public listening sessions were scheduled across the Commonwealth. Three of the six meetings have already taken place, but the remaining three sessions will all take place between 3:00 pm and 5:00 pm at the following locations: 1. October12, 2011 at the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission in Springfield; 2. October 27, 2011 at the Berkshire Regional Transit Authority in Pittsfield; and 3. November 7, 2011 at the State Transportation Building in Boston, MA. Please consult the MBTA and MassDOT websites for more detailed information.

5 6. Federal Updates The Federal House Transportation Committee recently received a commitment from leadership to help identify new sources of funding to try to ensure that budgeting over a six-year period would at least meet today's spending levels. It seems that the need to maintain infrastructure spending is one topic on which both sides of the aisle agree. Approximately $50 billion is spent per year by the USDOT on transportation, funded primarily from motor vehicle fuel taxes, a declining revenue source due to improvements in fuel economy and reductions in vehicle miles travelled. In fact, those receipts are expected to drop by $15 billion annually over the next six years. Nonetheless, both the Republican leadership in the House and the Obama Administration has come out against any increase in fuels taxes. Therefore, it is unclear how the House will find the additional revenue to maintain transportation spending, although one possibility identified by Representative Mica, Chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, is the de-obligation of unspent transportation funds from prior years. Stay tuned. 7. South Station Boring Within the next two to three weeks we expect to be scheduling 4-5 borings in the evening between the tracks at the south end of south station. The purpose is to gather soil material data which will be used by our consultants to ascertain what is occurring 60 feet below the surface under the I-90 connector tunnel. This you may recall is the result of the extended thaw cycle and excessive settlement recorded in the vicinity of the frozen soil remaining from the Central Artery/Tunnel construction. MassDOT will work at night and will coordinate with MBTA and Amtrak operations to coordinate the necessary shutdown while the work is ongoing. We are looking forward to scheduling a time for interested press and board members to visit the operation on a specified night during the process. 8. Veterans Bridge Dedication in Fall River The Veterans Memorial Bridge connecting Fall River and Somerset had an opening ceremony on Sept. 11. Westbound traffic began flowing over the bridge on the morning of Monday, Sept. 12. Eastbound traffic will begin four to six weeks later as the ramps are finished and Route 6 is reconfigured. 9. Veteran s Special License Continuing on the Veteran s theme, I am pleased to report that the RMV is poised- to have printed upon request- an indicator of Veteran on the bottom right hand corner on the face of a MA license or MA ID.

6 The licensee would come to a branch with a copy of his or her DD-214 (Document of honorable discharge) and receive the license upon regular renewal (same $50.00 fee) or pay a duplicate fee ($25.00) if the licensee wants it right away. The hard copy credential is usually received within 7 days. The initiative will be announced for the November Veterans Day events but will not be issued until close to the end of November. 10. SRTA s Contract Award The Southeastern Regional Transit Authority has selected First Transit Corporation of Cincinnati, Ohio as its new management firm. Its contract will enable the authority to save roughly $500,000 a year. Mayor Will Flanagan hopes that the savings will allow for the expansion of service in Fall River. Pending the Mayor s November reelection he will become the next chairman of the SRTA advisory board, which approved the new management firm last month. The new firm bid $954,000 per year for the duration of the 5 year contract, the lowest of three offers. 11. Quarterly Accountability On November 10, MassDOT will hold its first Quarterly Accountability Meeting. This effort builds upon the success of our scorecards, ARRA and Accelerated Bridge Program accountability reporting. This meeting is the first of four meetings that will be held over the course of this fiscal year to review MassDOT's progress in meeting our goals in an open forum with staff, the public and other stakeholders. At the November meeting, we will share MassDOT's goals for this fiscal year, review a series of key metrics related to our programs and roll out our new budget and human resources reporting system. This new budget and human resource reporting is designed to empower managers to lead their department and instill a greater sense of accountability and transparency within our organization.