The MBTA is one of the largest and oldest public transportation systems of the United States. Safety has been a concern in recent years. In August, the Federal Transit Administration released a 90-page report that unveils the dire conditions of MBTA operations, and the extent of needed repairs. Meanwhile, the Orange Line was recently shut down for 30 days, along with sections of the Green Line, and more shutdowns can be expected in the months and years ahead. What’s broken? Who is responsible? What are the short-, medium-, and long-term solutions? Join a conversation moderated by GBH Transportation reporter Bob Seay and Josh Ostroff, Transportation for Massachusetts Interim Director, with Monica Tibbits-Nutt, Executive Director of the 128 Business Council; Collique Williams, Organizer at Community Labor United;Transportation Committee Co-chair Senator Brendan Crighton; and Brian Kane, Executive Director of the MBTA Advisory Board. This program is presented in collaboration with the Transportation for Massachusetts coalition (T4MA).
Josh was the coalition's Interim Director and oversaw all coalition operations, leads our staff team, and is the primary contact for our Executive Committee and external stakeholders. Josh also helps to connect our coalition with local and regional government, and with allied organizations and associations all throughout Massachusetts. Josh is a former Natick Selectman, where he is active in local government, a past president of the Massachusetts Municipal Association, and a strong proponent of transportation and public engagement. Josh has a B.A. from Brandeis University.
Monica G. Tibbits-Nutt, AICP, LEED AP BD+C is the Executive Director of the 128 Business Council. Monica also recently completed her tenure on the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) Board of Directors and as the Vice-Chair of the Fiscal Management and Control Board that oversaw the MBTA from 2015-2021. Working in regional planning and transportation, Monica’s areas of specialty are transportation planning, urban design, and transit equity. In both her work and research, Monica is particularly interested in capitalizing upon every opportunity to better educate transportation stakeholders and the public about all aspects of the planning process. As part of this focus on education, she serves as the Vice President of the non-profit Youth Engagement Planning (YEP!), which brings urban planning and community advocacy into K-12 environments. Monica also commits a significant portion of her time to mentorship through her roles as a member of the Board of Advisors to The Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston, and, less officially, by making herself available to the students and young professionals she has met through guest lecturing and through her membership in the American Planning Association, the Transportation Research Board, and other professional associations. Monica serves on the Board of Directors of WTS International and the WTS Foundation, which seeks to create a more inclusive and equitable transportation industry and provides scholarships to female-identifying professionals and students, respectively; and on the Board of Trustees of TransitCenter, which works to support, inform, connect and fund civic and public leaders working to truly make transit better.
Prior to serving as Executive Director fpr the MBTA Advisory Board, Kane spent 8 years at the MBTA in many capacities including, Manager of Operating Budget, senior staff of several MBTA General managers, principal staffer to the Fiscal and Management Control Board, and Director of Operations Analysis in T Operations. Kane began his career in public transportation as a budget and policy analyst at the MBTA Advisory Board in 2012. A Brookline resident, he holds a Master’s in Public Administration (MPA) from Northeastern University, and a BA in history from Boston College.
Born and raised in Lynn, Brendan Crighton comes from a long line of Lynn residents. He attended public schools in Lynn K-12. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Government at Colby College. He is also a graduate of Suffolk University, where he received his Masters of Public Administration. After college he went to work as an aide to State Senator Thomas McGee, eventually serving as Chief of Staff. It was during this time that Brendan truly honed his desire to serve by winning a seat as Ward 5 City Councilor in Lynn. After two terms as a Ward Councilor, Brendan was elected and served a full term as a Councilor at Large. In 2014, Brendan was elected to the House of Representatives, where he served for three years. In 2018, Brendan was elected to the State Senate, where he currently serves as the Chairperson of the Joint Committee on Housing, Vice Chair of the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies, and a member of the Senate Committee on Personnel and Administration the Joint Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities, the Joint Committee on Election Laws, the Joint Committee on Public Health and the Joint Committee on Mental Health, Substance Use, and Recovery.
Collique Williams is a long-time Boston-area community organizer, who comes to CLU from the youth organizing sector. Collique began his change-work as a youth organizer at the Boston-area Youth Organizing Project in 2001 and most recently at The City School, where he cut his teeth building a strong base of young folks shaping their communities. It was there that he first began working on transportation with the successful Youth Pass campaign, making the connection between accessible transportation for youth and a broader fight for more equitable communities for working-class families. He embodies the mantra “change is made by those most affected”, and hopes to carry on this legacy at Community Labor United, making sure that true coalition is built.