MBTA taps Beverly Scott for GM

BOSTON — Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) board members unanimously voted to appoint Dr. Beverly A. Scott, GM and chief executive of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA), to be the new MBTA GM, according to a mass.gov blog post and boston.com.

Scott, who had been MARTA’s GM/CEO since 2007, informed the board last year that she would not seek to renew her contract. She has worked in the transportation industry for 30 years, will be the MBTA’s first female GM. For mass.gov’s coverage, click here.

The board selected Scott after public interviews with her and the second semifinalist, MARTA’s No. 2, Dwight Ferrell. Secretary of Transportation Richard A. Davey, who was promoted last year from MBTA GM to secretary, creating the open GM position, told boston.com that the agency hoped the two semi-finalists would bring a fresh perspective to the agency, and be aware of “what we’re up against in terms of the need to reform and refinance the system.”

MBTA interviewed 10 semifinalists, chosen from a national pool of 106 applicants. Read boston.com’s coverage here.

Meanwhile, the MARTA board of directors named two transit executives as finalists for the GM/CEO position left open by Scott: Stephen G. Bland, CEO of the Allegheny County Port Authority in Pittsburgh and Keith T. Parker, president/CEO for VIA Metropolitan Transit in San Antonio, Texas.