Worcester Born Jeffrey Mullan to Run MassDOT

Governor Patrick’s announcement naming Worcester native Jeffrey Mullan as head of Massachusett’s new transportation department was not a surprise.  Mr. Mullan has been bopping around since joining the Patrick administration filling in as needed.  Having been from Worcester though the timing was awful since it coincides with another MBTA crash interestingly on the Framingham-Worcester Commuter line.

Politics aside we have to hope that creating this new agency MassDOT will somehow create enough efficiencies and cost savings that money can be spent on safety related issues.  From T crashes and structurally unsound bridges we can’t afford more missteps.

Governor Patrick made his announcement from his home since he is recuperating from his hip surgery.  His administration actually does do a decent job of embracing the new communications media available to them.  The announcement is available on YouTube and Mr. Mullen also introduces himself on a video posted on YouTube.  The announcement also includes the MassDOT blog information as well as there Twitter account.  They will be using them to keep the public more informed about what is happening.

MassDOT’s official launch is November 1 so I am sure there will be more information in the weeks ahead on the direction of this “new” department.