The Federal Transit Administration has closed its four-year safety oversight of the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities, returning direct supervision of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's safety equipment and management to the state agency.

The closure ends a federal intervention that began in 2022 after several major safety incidents at the MBTA. The FTA placed the DPU's Rail Transit Safety Division under special directives that year, ordering the state regulator to overhaul its staffing, operations, funding and safety practices. The FTA found the DPU under-resourced and unable to provide adequate safety oversight of the transit system.

What did the 2022 federal directives require?

Under Special Directive 22-8 and accompanying orders, the DPU had to strengthen its oversight of four specific MBTA safety areas:

• Track maintenance
• Uncontrolled train movements
• Management of the Operations Control Center
• Personnel training

The Rail Transit Safety Division conducts independent inspections of the MBTA's subway cars, stations and carhouses, and produces external safety and compliance audits of the transit agency. In 2024, the FTA issued a satisfactory rating in its Triennial Audit of the DPU and closed Special Directive 22-8. The federal Safety Management Inspection oversight has now concluded.

"With the FTA's role overseeing special directives concluded, we have officially closed the book on the serious safety issues we saw four years ago," said DPU Commissioner Staci Rubin, who oversees the DPU's transportation divisions. "We made a commitment to invest in the Rail Transit Safety Division, strengthen technical expertise and build more rigorous oversight processes—and we delivered. This was made possible thanks to our dedicated rail safety staff and support from the Legislature. The DPU is well positioned to ensure safer MBTA operations in the years to come."

What has changed at the MBTA since 2022?

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey tied the federal closure to a broader investment campaign by her administration and credited Phil Eng, who serves as both MassDOT Secretary and MBTA General Manager, along with DPU Director Robert Hanson.

"When I took office, the MBTA was in a dire state. After years of underinvestment, workers and passengers alike didn't feel safe on the rails. Today, the MBTA is safer, more reliable and more affordable for the riders who use it every day," Healey said.

Eng reported that the MBTA has submitted 99% of its corrective action plans to federal regulators.

"The closure of federal SMI oversight into the MBTA was no small feat and reinforces that the investments the MBTA is making in our workforce, service and infrastructure are paying dividends," Eng said. "The MBTA is a different agency than it was three years ago, and while we know we have more work to do, 99% of our corrective action plans have been submitted, and the safety of riders and the workforce continues to be at the forefront of everything we do."

Operational changes have followed the federal directives. In 2023, the MBTA revised its Operations Control Center scheduling policies to guarantee minimum rest periods between shifts and to prohibit employees from being dual-scheduled for dispatcher and supervisor duties.

In 2025, the MBTA completed its Track Improvement Program and eliminated all slow zones on its network for the first time in 20 years, a milestone that directly affects service reliability and travel times across the system.

What comes next?

The DPU's Rail Transit Safety Division will continue routine independent inspections and external audits of the MBTA with federal SMI oversight concluded. Eng said the MBTA will continue building on the work of the past three years in coordination with its state oversight partners.