Phil Eng, the MBTA's new general manager, is a longtime public transit executive from New York. Photo courtesy of the office of Gov. Maura Healey
Phillip Eng, the former chief operations officer at New York City’s transit system and the former president of the Long Island Rail Road commuter rail system, will be the next MBTA general manager.
Gov. Maura Healey’s office announced the appointment Monday morning. Eng will take up the post April 10. Eng’s selection follows a three-month-long search process led by executive search firm Krauthamer & Assoc.
“Phil Eng is the proven leader the MBTA needs to improve safety and reliability across the system and restore the public’s trust,” Healey said in a statement. “He understands that a functioning transportation system is essential to a functioning economy, and he has a track record of taking the reins of struggling public transit systems and dramatically improving service. He also takes a collaborative approach to his work and maintains open lines of communication with customers, workers, businesses, local officials and communities.”
Eng will take over an agency struggling to restore rider confidence and hire thousands of staff key to restoring safety and service levels, and with slow zones caused by poor track conditions rampant across its subway system. Ridership projections shared with the MBTA board last week show ridership is likely to only hit 61 percent of pre-pandemic levels, even as New York State officials announced earlier this month that the New York City subway very nearly met its pre-pandemic ridership figures in mid-March.
“It’s time for a new way of doing business at the MBTA. As an engineer, a transportation professional for 40 years, and a commuter myself, I’m laser focused on finding innovative solutions to complex problems and approaching them with a sense of urgency that always puts the customer first,” Eng said in a statement provided by Healey’s office. “I’m also committed to supporting the hardworking employees who keep the MBTA running and ramping up hiring to ensure that we have the workforce in place to deliver the reliable service that riders deserve.”
A Better City, the transit- and real estate-focused business-backed advocacy group, praised the move in a statement released separately from the Healey administration’s announcement.
“The MBTA is critical to lives and livelihoods across our region and the selection of Phillip Eng as its next General Manager shows the Healey Administration is leaning in on its commitment to rebuilding a reliable system and public confidence in it,” President and CEO Rick Dimino said in a statement. “Eng brings over 40 years of industry experience to the MBTA with a proven track record as President of the largest commuter railroad in the nation at the MTA Long Island Rail Road (LIRR), delivering the best on-time performance in the history of the LIRR as well as realizing strategic initiatives to improve service reliability and enhance customer experience. A Better City stands ready to support Eng and the administration in improving the performance of the MBTA, stabilizing the organization and safety needs, and delivering high quality service that encourages more people to choose transit.”
Advocacy group TransitMatters said it welcomed Eng’s appointment, but noted “not a single rider will cheer today” thanks to the T’s troubled service.
“We stand firm in the assertion that no one person can fix the myriad of issues at the T. It will take a combination of legislative and gubernatorial actions to resolve the significant issues that remain, including operating and capital budget deficiencies, a Capital Investment Plan (CIP) that fails to meet the needs of our rapidly growing region, and a Board that is failing to provide appropriate oversight,” the group said in a statement that urged Eng and the Healey administration to focus both on fixing the T and “future-proofing” with capacity expansions like electrifying the commuter rail system and making it more frequent.
In her office’s announcement, Healey also thanked current interim MBTA General Manager Jeffrey Gonneville, previously the deputy general manager, and indicated he plans to stay on with the T. Transit advocates had praised steps he took to make the T more transparent soon after taking the reins from former General Manager Steve Poftak, an appointee of former Gov. Charlie Baker, and his handling of a crisis earlier this month that saw the T having to reexamine every inch of its subway routes for defects and launch repair plans once problems were found in over a third of its tracaks.
“I’m deeply grateful to Jeff Gonneville for his 22 years of dedicated service to the MBTA and for rising to the challenge as Interim General Manager during this critical period. He has ushered in a new era of transparency and communication at the MBTA that I know that Phil Eng will continue to build on. We are pleased that Jeff will continue his service to Massachusetts,” Healey said.
Eng was president of the Long Island Rail Road from 2018 to 2022, managing its 7,600 employees and $1.6 billion operating budget. In its announcement, the Healey administration credited Eng with having “transformed the system from having the worst on time performance in decades to having the most consistent on time performance in the railroad’s history.” He began his career at the New York State Department of Transportation in the 1980s, rising to become its chief engineer before being named the chief operating officer of the New York City Metropolitan Transit Authority in 2017, the umbrella entity for the region’s subway and commuter rail systems, along with numerous bridges and tunnels There, Healey’s office said, he “improved the MTA’s contracting methods to better ensure that projects would be completed on time, with reduce costs and with improved quality and durability” and led the selection of a contractor to revamp of the MTA’s ticketing system, a task the T has struggled with for years.
“What impressed me the most about Phil Eng is that everything he does is driven by his commitment to customer service,” Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, a major supporter of the T from her time as Salem’s mayor, said in a statement. “He understands that the success of our public transportation system relies on the trust of the public, and that transparency, communication and reliability are the keys to earning that trust. I’m confident that he is the right leader for this transformative moment for the MBTA.”
Eng is currently executive vice president of New York-based engineering and construction consultancy LiRo Group, and will be relocating to Massachusetts when he starts his new position, Healey’s office said.
“Phil has a record of achievement in delivering world class transportation services in New York State, managing billions of dollars in capital projects, and launching initiatives to improve the customer experience,” MassDOT Secretary Gina Fiandaca said in a statement. “Most importantly, Phil has excelled at finding solutions to challenging problems. It’s clear he is focused on customer satisfaction, operational excellence, and championing a safe, reliable transportation system. He has wide ranging experience as an executive manager for mass transit, highways, ports, waterways and aviation facilities. We look forward to having Phil guide and support improvements and innovations at the MBTA.”
This story has been updated with comment from TransitMatters.
