What's the most difficult thing MBTA General Manager Phil Eng has had to tackle in his first year on the job?
“It might be myself, because I want to do things quicker,” Eng joked during an appearance Friday on Boston Public Radio.
He said the transit agency had so much work to complete that it was initially hard to know where to start. Eng credited the entire MBTA workforce and leadership team for “really moving the needle in the right direction.”
Much of that work has been fixing the system’s aging infrastructure, which had been neglected for years. That includes repairing and replacing miles of tracks and installing new signal and power systems.
“In this last year, the amount of work we've done in our system — well, anecdotally, a lot of people say we haven't done that much work in years,” Eng said.
Eng has launched a yearlong series of diversions or service suspensions which, although disruptive for riders, allow work crews more time and unrestricted access to fix the aging infrastructure more efficiently.
A Boston Public Radio listener asked Eng if the diversions will be more successful than the infamous 30-day Orange Line shutdown in 2022, which rendered the service as bad or worse than when they started.
“I think that in the amount of work we've done since late last year, every single one of the diversions that we have had, we've delivered on the results we've committed to — and we've had over 30 diversions this year,” Eng said. He has pledged to remove all speed restrictions on the T by the end of this year.
When asked about improving bus service, Eng responded that the T’s entire bus network is under review. He said progress is being made on replenishing the workforce after several hundred drivers left during the pandemic, which resulted in a significant decrease in service.
“We've been working on getting our operators back to the levels that we need to be able to run the service that we used to run,” he said.
Eng was also asked about the Massachusetts House’s budget proposal that funded the new low-income fare program with $20 million — less than half of the $45 million that Gov. Maura Healey requested. He said there may be enough money to get the program up and running, and that the MBTA is “committed to keep moving forward with the dollars we have.”
“We do know that in the beginning it's going to be a ramp-up period. So, whatever ends up being in the final budget for the T, we'll have to assess that when we get to the end of that program,” he said.
Although all of these improvements to the T will take some time, he said eventually riders will see improved reliability and on-time performance. And he added that riders they will see cleaner stations and a more welcoming and safe environment. The ultimate goal, he said, is restoring confidence, public trust and ridership.
Given all the challenges he faces, Eng was asked how he manages to stay calm: “Years ago, I lost my temper on something. And then I realized, you know what? I shouldn't have let myself get to that level. I need to stay levelheaded. And I think the team needs to know that we're in this together.”
