BOSTON — Phillip Eng, an engineer with decades of experience running public transit systems, has been named the general manager of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, the Boston area’s troubled public transit agency, Gov. Maura Healey announced Monday.
Eng, the former president of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Long Island Rail Road and one-time interim President of New York City Transit, was most recently executive vice president at the engineering consultant firm The LiRo group, is known as a public transit troubleshooter.
“It is clear that that the MBTA’s service is not at the level that it needs to be and it hasn’t been that way for far too long,” Eng said at a news conference at the Riverside Station in Newton, with Green Line trolleys and buses moving in the background. “It’s time for a new way of doing business at the T.”
The MBTA, which oversees the nation’s oldest subway system as well as commuter rail, bus and ferry service, has come under intense scrutiny in recent years for a series of safety issues that led to a federal review and orders to fix the problem. It has recently been plagued by slow zones, the delayed delivery of new vehicles and understaffing.
Eng took public transportation to the news conference, talking to passengers and employees along the way.
“I cherish the opportunity to again work in public transportation, as it is vital to the public, their quality of life and our economy, but when it’s not functioning the way it should, when it’s not safe and it’s not reliable, everyone suffers,” he said.
Healey, a Democrat, said Eng's appointment is probably the most important she has made since she was sworn in as governor earlier this year.
“What really stood out to all of us in the search the process is that he has a proven track record of taking on challenging problems, taking over the reins of transit systems in times of crisis, and turning them around,” she said.
The MBTA's average weekday ridership across all modes as of January was nearly 700,000, according to the T's website. About half of those trips are made on the subway.
Recent problems have included the death of a subway rider last April who was dragged along a platform when his arm got stuck in a malfunctioning subway car door. Nine people were injured in September 2021 when an escalator at a station malfunctioned, and more than two dozen people went to the hospital in July 2021 when a Green Line train rear-ended another trolley.
Last July, a subway train caught fire as it was crossing a bridge north of Boston, prompting one passenger to jump into the Mystic River and others to scramble out of windows.
Even before that fire, the Federal Transit Administration last June issued four “special directives” that required the MBTA to better staff its operations control center; improve track maintenance; address unintended and uncontrolled train movements in maintenance facilities and rail yards; and ensure that all employee training certifications are up to date.
“Our jobs start with making sure the T is safe and reliable,” Eng said.
As interim president of NYC Transit, he was integral in initiating and implementing the $836 million plan to fix aging infrastructure and improve performance. As President of the MTA Long Island Rail Road from 2018 to 2022, he turned around on-time performance and oversaw the implementation of technology that improved the accuracy of train arrival time estimates.
Boston Carmen’s Union, Local 589, which represents about 6,000 of the MBTA's more than 7,000 employees, said it was “optimistic" about Eng's appointment, blaming current problems on the failed policies of previous leadership teams.
“The truth is that cuts, privatization, and austerity have dramatically failed the MBTA, its workforce, and its riders — and so the key to this general manager’s success will be avoiding those failed approaches, and working in true partnership with riders, workers, and our communities to chart a new direction based on the public interest and the public good,” the union said in a statement.
A Better City, a group of about 130 Boston business leaders dedicated to enhancing the region's economy, lauded Eng's appointment.
Steve Poftak, the MBTA's previous general manager, stepped down in January just before Healey took office. Jeff Gonneville has served as interim general manager and will assist with the transition to new management.
