The MBTA has made incredible strides over the past two years, and Phillip Eng, the New Yorker who came out of retirement to fix Boston’s public transportation system, is getting rave reviews.
It was just before 9 a.m. on a Tuesday, the temperature was in the low teens and a bundled-up Eng moved briskly to the Chinatown MBTA stop. Trains don’t always like the cold and this frigid morning caused issues for a couple lines.
In the past, that news might have T riders roll their eyes and say, “What else is new?” But, these days the much maligned and often ridiculed transit system has been getting high marks. Ridership is up. Reliability is up. Customer satisfaction is up. Eng, the MBTA’s general manager, has been getting much of the credit.
Eng and WBZ-TV’s David Wade met up just outside of the Orange Line stop in Chinatown. His tie was the first hint that he loves his job. It appeared to be silk, and it was designed with MBTA trains and a T map. It was hand painted by a woman at a marketplace in London, where Eng recently traveled for a transit convention. When he saw her custom ties, he asked if she would make him one.
“I gave her some information and she created these designs, and I said ‘Love it! I’ll take it!'” Eng said.
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The 64-year-old takes the MBTA to and from work every single day. The native New Yorker came to Boston after retiring as the head of the Long Island Rail Road. He succeeded there and is doing very well here. But, with the T there are always gripes.
“I’ve had some [riders] where they share their thoughts with me,” Eng said. “But that’s fair, you know, people rely on transportation.”
Reliability improves
Yes, people rely on the MBTA, but for a long time the T hasn’t been reliable.
In the year prior to Eng’s arrival in Boston in March of 2023, 75% of Orange Line trains arrived at their stop within five minutes of their scheduled time. It was only 43% for the Red Line.
But in this past year, it was 97% for the Orange Line and 86% for the Red Line.
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Eng and Wade decided to discuss what’s been happening at the MBTA by taking a ride from Chinatown out to Oak Grove in Malden, Massachusetts. They jumped on a brand-new train and there are no more slow zones. That’s a dramatic development.
Standing in a crowded subway car, Eng gave a sort of play-by-play. “We are on the Orange Line now, probably one of our most reliable trips. Not only will you see us going 55 miles per hour, but we have all new train cars,” Eng said. “So, this going to be one of the best lines we have. That being said, the other lines are right there too.”
Eng is married with four kids. He was in a pretty great spot after leaving the LIRR, but he came out of retirement and came to Boston because he missed fixing things. It’s something he loved as a child.
“Back in the day my parents always got me these tin toys. It’s spring loaded and spring action. I would take them apart just to see ‘How is that arm doing what it’s doing? How is that wheel moving it along?'” Eng smiled as he remembered his lifelong fascination with how things work.
“Ripping off the Band-Aid”
Heading north toward Malden, on the other side Boston, Green Line riders were boarding buses in the frigid cold. There’s a two-week shutdown for a big portion of the line to replace some equipment from the 1890’s. Why shut down the Green Line just before the holidays?
“Well, we have different segments of work through the whole year. There’s almost no right time,” Eng said. “There’s so much happening throughout the whole year. Sporting events, shows, festivals.”
Eng called shutdowns “ripping off the Band-Aid.” He thinks riders are more likely to agree with a two-week shutdown than two or three months without weekend service.
Three years ago, the Orange Line was shut down for a month. Miles of tracks were repaired or replaced. Eng came on board with the MBTA a short time later and has continued to be aggressive with repairs. He said there has been “40 years of work in 14 months.” No doubt, things seem better, and passengers seem happy.
More passengers satisfied
According to survey given to MBTA riders, the month Eng started as GM, 35% of passengers surveyed said they were satisfied overall with the MBTA. Last month, 67% of passengers said they were satisfied. It’s the highest number in more than a decade.
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But, fixing the T costs taxpayers a fortune and it is not a money maker, at all. The governor and lawmakers have been budgeting billions to turn the transit system around. How long can that go on for?
“The spending can be better managed as we go forward. The spending does not have to be this level. Now when we start to talk about future expansions and we start to talk about adding service areas we haven’t covered before, that’s a whole different topic,” said Eng who really wants more Commuter Rail lines to more communities with more frequent trains.
Eng never tires of talking trains and he’s always paying attention. Even during his morning commute.
“My colleagues know. I’ll send a photo of a coffee cup spill. I’ll send a photo of something that needs attention. I’ll send pictures of graffiti. Let’s get that cleaned up because details do matter,” Eng said.
That matters to his legion of fans. Yes, an MBTA general manager with fans. He is a big deal online, specifically on Reddit. Some people have commented, “Eng for mayor!,” “Phil Eng deserves a statue,” and “This dude rocks!!”
With a laugh, Eng said, “They’re passionate. They love their transit system. They know how important it is. And I do see those from time to time, my kids will point them out to me.”
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