Despite all the bad news about the T, Phillip Eng is still optimistic about fixing it
Of all the Orange Line trains in Boston, I somehow ended up in the same car as the MBTA’s new general manager, Phillip Eng.
Shortly before 7 p.m. on Tuesday, I got on at State Street, headed for Oak Grove. The car was not crowded so it was easy to spot Eng standing in front of the doors and then watch him watching passengers who did not seem to notice him, while alternately looking down at his phone, just like everyone else. He got off at Community College — right after a slow zone and just as I was going to ask what he really thinks about the job he started in April.
When we connected by phone a short time after that chance encounter, Eng sounded both realistic and optimistic about turning around a transit system that faces daily calamity. “People deserve a safe and reliable system,” he said. Addressing the drumbeat of negative headlines about the T, he acknowledged, “It’s hard to read stories about ourselves, but we’re going to turn ourselves around.” As to how the T got where it is, he said, “Years of disinvestment led to the challenges we’re now facing. But we’re moving forward to show when we invest our dollars and commit to a schedule and effort, we’re going to deliver.”
If only T riders could believe him. Worn down by slowdowns, shutdowns, and 19-minute waits between trains, we are a skeptical crew. In July, an old Orange Line train caught fire, leading to a monthlong shutdown that was supposed to fix longstanding track issues. Since then, Governor Maura Healey took office and put new transportation leaders in place. But derailments, falling equipment, and ongoing worker safety concerns are still part of the T’s story. Eng knows that changing rider perception of a system in crisis is a big part of his job. “Public confidence is not where it should be,” he said.
Post-pandemic ridership is ticking upward, but fare revenue is still low, a factor attributed to the slowness of the trains. According to Common-Wealth Magazine, a fifth of the system is operating under slow zone rules because of defective track. This week, Eng is scheduled to update the MBTA Board of Directors on track work and slow zones and also give a progress report on the special directives ordered by the Federal Transportation Administration, which involve the T’s need to address worker shortages, prioritization of safety management, safety communication, and operating conditions.
Last month, Eng was criticized for not telling the T board, and by the extension the public, about a letter from the FTA telling top officials that the plan developed for addressing worker safety was insufficient. He said at the time he did not see it as a big deal. The T subsequently submitted a revised worker safety plan. Eng’s failure to proactively disclose the letter ran up against his pledge to make the T a more accountable and transparent agency. But he took responsibility for it. And, speaking from my own experience, when it comes to getting answers to questions, the T does seem more responsive under his leadership.
Eng’s predecessor, Steve Poftak, also took the T to work. But Eng, a New Yorker with 40 years of transit experience, including four years running the Long Island Rail Road, is not just commuting on the T. He said he’s riding the system so he can hear what riders are saying and gauge their reactions to assorted service issues. The night I encountered him, he said he had walked from T headquarters at 10 Park Plaza to the Chinatown stop. He originally planned to get off at North Station but instead stayed on one more stop to Community College, from where he could also walk home.
He believes riders are rightly unhappy when they are misinformed or kept in the dark but tend to accept honest notifications about delays or other service issues. “We need to be better with announcements,” he said. Speaking of that, I told him of a recent morning ride on the Orange Line that started at Oak Grove. However, the announcement system was still programmed for a start from Forest Hills and stayed that way for a good part of the trip. For example, when we were approaching Wellington, the announcement said we were approaching Jackson Square. It was amusing but also a little disconcerting, and as Eng noted, it would be very confusing to a tourist or other visitor. “That’s one of the checklist things, to make sure it’s programmed right, it’s a flip of the switch. Folks should be listening,” he said.
Listening is good and so is optimism. But it will take more than that to fix the T.