Governor Maura T. Healey, Lieutenant Governor Kimberley Driscoll and Transportation Secretary Gina Fiandaca today announced that, after a comprehensive search, they will be appointing Phillip Eng as the next General Manager of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). Eng is an engineer with nearly 40 years of experience in transportation, including as President of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) Long Island Rail Road and Interim President of New York City Transit.
Eng worked his way through the ranks of the New York State Department of Transportation beginning in the ‘80s, ultimately serving as Executive Deputy Commissioner and Chief Engineer from 2013-2017. He then served as Chief Operating Officer of the MTA, where he oversaw successful efforts to improve performance and efficiency across all agencies, including the NYC Transit Authority, Metro-North Railroad, Long Island Rail Road and MTA Bridges and Tunnels. He led the procurement and awarding of a $540 million contract to modernize the MTA’s mobile ticketing system and 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.
Eng was then tapped to serve as Interim President of NYC Transit, where he led a workforce of 50,000 employees and was integral to initiating and implementing the $836 million Subway Action Plan to fix aging infrastructure and improve performance across the system.
From 2018-2022, Eng served as President of the MTA Long Island Rail Road, where he managed a system of 7,600 employees and a $1.6 billion operating budget. He 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 oversaw the implementation of new technology that improved the accuracy of train arrival time estimates on platforms and led to the release of the new and improved LIRR TrainTime app, which provides the public with up-to-date service information. He also focused on improving relationships with customers, workers, labor, elected officials, local businesses and community leaders through consistent communication, including the launch of “Customer Conversation” forums and “Meet the Manager” station settings.
Since June, Eng has served as Executive Vice President of the LiRo Group, where he advises public and private sector clients on engineering, transportation and infrastructure projects. He has worked with a number of public transportation clients across the Northeast, including the MBTA, on construction management and quality design, assurance and control inspections.
He lives in Smithtown, New York with his wife Carole and will be relocating to Massachusetts to begin his new role on April 10.
Interim General Manager Jeff Gonneville will remain with the MBTA and assist with the transition to new management.
-via Press Release