Copyright The Boston Globe
In an exclusive interview — the first since she left her post last Thursday —the former secretary said she felt ready to leave the public eye. “It’s your personality; it’s your life,” she said. “I was so excited about the work we did, but I was also so excited to come home.” Tibbits-Nutt said she had considered leaving the job for months, and over the summer started having conversations about transitioning out of the department. She put in a verbal resignation with Governor Maura Healey’s administration as part of an “ongoing” conversation in recent weeks. The job required her attention 24 hours a day, she said, and she spent so many hours working that she put a couch in her office to sneak rest when she could. She rarely saw her wife and school-aged daughter, and decided to take a step back “while I still had 200 percent passion.” Tibbits-Nutt will continue to earn her $206,496 salary while serving as an adviser, according to Healey’s office. But she said the 14-hour workdays have dwindled down to a “super chill” four or five meetings a day since she resigned. The governor didn’t ask her to step down, nor did anyone else, Tibbits-Nutt said. She also insisted her exit was unrelated to several controversies including the department’s disputed contract to redevelop the state’s 18 highway service plazas or Tibbits-Nutt’s comments last year that the state Transportation Funding Task Force she led was interested in charging tolls to drivers entering its borders. She said she can’t talk about the controversial deal given pending litigation over the service plazas. Tibbits-Nutt, however, defended the task force she led, saying it “served as a model for other states.” She said her departure is unrelated to Healey’s reelection campaign, but acknowledged the 2026 election year is “a natural moment to reflect.” Tibbits-Nutt is the fifth member of Healey’s Cabinet to leave or announce a departure since the spring, following announcements by Healey’s secretaries on public safety, economic development, health, and veteran services. When Healey was building her Cabinet, Tibbits-Nutt was viewed as a rising star. With a background that included working in community planning, she was tapped as undersecretary, then thrust into the top post in late 2023 after her predecessor, Gina Fiandaca, abruptly quit after less than a year on the job. She was the first Black, gay woman transit chief in state history, and lives outside the “major core” of the Boston area in central Massachusetts. “Being the first Black female, being queer ... you see stuff differently,” she said. “We need to reflect the communities we serve.” Tibbits-Nutt previously served on the MassDOT board of directors and as the vice chair of the Fiscal Management and Control Board, the MBTA’s former oversight body. She also worked as executive director of the 128 Business Council, an organization that offers shuttle services along the Route 128 West corridor. When she became secretary, she was given the advice to “come with a list.” She did. Tibbits-Nutt had more than 200 public events across the state, and said she enjoyed meeting people in communities who had never met a transportation secretary before. She spearheaded MBTA’s reduced-fare program for low-income riders and convened the transportation task force whose work helped persuade lawmakers to give the MBTA a$535 million infusion. “That vote was the greatest day of my life besides getting married and becoming a parent,” she said. The third item on her list was ensuring rural equity, which involved sending more money and resources to rural communities to fix aging roads and culverts that plague drivers during rainstorms and dry seasons alike. Healey signed a bill into law in August sending $300 million in funding for transportation and infrastructure to every city and town. With three checks off her list, Tibbits-Nutt felt she completed her mission. “This was a dream job for me,” she said, but also involved a lot more ribbon cuttings and high-level policy conversations than she was used to. She hasn’t announced her next steps, but said she will pursue transportation projects outside the public sector. “I’m a practitioner. I like building things,” she said. “I’m excited to touch stuff again.”
