Eng talks transparency on MBTA's new podcast

After being released in an apparent mistake two weeks ago, the MBTA's transparency-touting podcast pulled out of the station again Wednesday morning.

On the first episode of "Spilling the T," MBTA General Manager and CEO Phillip Eng talks for almost 30 minutes with host Andrew Cassidy of the T's Customer and Employee Experience Department about what attracted him to his role, his take on the T's challenges and what he's doing to address them, and his vision for the MBTA's future vitality. The T announced that it had launched its new podcast in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Wednesday morning.

Two weeks ago, the T similarly tweeted an announcement of its new podcast in what it called "a step toward increasing transparency." But within about 90 minutes, the audio was scrubbed from the internet and the agency said it had been made available by mistake. The episode released Wednesday appears to be unchanged from what had been briefly available two weeks ago.

MBTA critics say the T has not always been up front about its challenges, and the agency made transparency a theme of the interview with Eng. Host Cassidy declared at one point that "one of the major reasons for this podcast is really just about transparency; it's about kind of pulling back the curtain for our rider, for stakeholders across the board."

Eng, a Long Island Rail Road veteran who was hired by Gov. Maura Healey to take over the sputtering MBTA in April, said he thinks the T needs to get better about explaining to riders what work is ongoing and how it will benefit them.

"Some of the things that I'm seeing is that we certainly can do better at sharing why we're doing things, the benefits of those things that we're doing and what it means to — whether it's our employees or the public — what it means to them when it's done," Eng said. He added, "I think the transparency part comes to a trust thing as well. The more information we share, the better feedback you get. But at the end of the day, it's important for them to know what they have supported, or even in some cases objected to."

The general manager talked about his focus on safety at the T, particularly for the workers who are making the repairs that materially improve commutes. Repeated safety lapses at the T have drawn regular attention from federal officials, and the T is still operating with fewer train trips because federal regulators deemed its staffing levels insufficient.

Eng also described his vision for the T on the other side of its current predicament. He said he wants to make sure "this agency is not only putting things back together with Band-Aids," but is also building the MBTA "for long-term success."

"The future, though, is about how does the T support quality of life, how does the T support the communities, the businesses, tourism, the whole economy? Because the part about the T is we're really a vital component to those successes. And without it — there is not enough room to build highways and bridges that could support the needs to get around, right? All these modes go together," he said. "The idea is to have one where our system is running really smooth, minimal interruptions with a very high on-time performance, and allowing us to continue to build on those transformative projects."