The MBTA is already preparing for the FIFA World Cup this summer. Hundreds of thousands of visitors are expected to come to the region for the games at Gillette Stadium, which is being rebranded as Boston Stadium. GBH’s Morning Edition host Mark Herz spoke with MBTA General Manager and interim Secretary of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation Phil Eng to learn about his plans for the tournament and beyond.
Mark Herz: Let’s start with the World Cup. It’s coming in June, along with something on the order of half a million expected visitors. What is the plan? How is a system that’s only just started to be more consistent around everyday demands going to accommodate such a huge influx of riders?
Phil Eng: Well, you kind of reference it. We are coming around where we are better serving our regular riders every day of the year. Had it not been for the investments that the Healey-Driscoll administration have made over the last three years, we would not be in a position to actually say “We’re ready for the World Cup.” But we are making really strong progress in terms of not only everyday service, but the ability to manage this type of event. And this is a Celtics parade on steroids. This is the Super Bowl on steroids, because it’s not just a one-day event. This is 39 days of people from across the globe visiting Massachusetts. We also know and are cognizant that we need to make sure that we continue to serve our regular riders that we do 365 days a year. That’s why building up our workforce, reinvesting in infrastructure has given us a finding chance to do this.
We have a build right now at Foxborough that will be done in May. It’s a new station [with] all door-level boarding. That dramatically improves the ability to be able to move trains faster, to move people on and off those trains easier and safer. And that’s not only a build for the World Cup. That’s going to have long-lasting improvements for future events and the ability for us to continue to keep people on trains and get them out of their cars. A lot of benefits long term.
Herz: Can you give us some select highlights of what’s in that plan for the World Cup? Are you going to be hiring some temporary workers? Are there more trains that somehow you’re bringing on board? How does it work?
Eng: What we estimate is about 20,000 fans will want to use rail or need to use rail, because of the way the situation is and the safety and security of Boston Stadium, which it’ll be renamed for the World Cup. That means the number of parking spaces will be dramatically reduced. 20,000 riders means we are estimating 14 trains will be needed and be provided for that amount of people. That also means we’re looking at our schedules for how our workforce will be handled, and we’re putting that all together as we speak. It’s a key component of moving people safely and soundly.
Herz: OK, and staying with the T, but another aspect. You came here from the Long Island Rail Road just about three years ago now. How has ridership changed over that time period?
Eng: Well, here at the MBTA, we are consistently seeing year after year, stronger growth. We’re not back to pre-pandemic levels, but we also know people’s travel patterns have changed since the pandemic [with] the flexibility and work schedule, but I’m glad to say they were at 76% of where we were before. The good thing about it is it’s distributed across the day we are seeing that flexibility allows people to be able to travel during different times. We still do see traditional heavy mornings, heavy afternoons, but at the same time, having a robust, more frequent schedule all day long is how we get people back on our system, whether it’s the subways, the heavy and light rail, whether it is buses, whether its the commuter rail. And we’ve seen that. On the commuter rail, all day frequency has allowed people with flexible schedules to pick their time to come in, but also know if they’re leaving midday, there’s a train to go home midday. And with the heavy rail, light rail, it’s dramatically improved from where we were in 2023 when I started. I remember when I first got here, the Red Line was at least 20 to 25 minutes between trains every day. Orange Line was 12 minutes when I started, Blue Line I think was over 10, and Green Line was intermittent. Now we are running very regular service. So Red is every four or five minutes I believe in the core, Green is every one to two in the core, Blue is every four minutes, and Orange Line is consistently under six minutes on a regular basis. Now having said that, we have a lot more work to do.
Herz: What about the future of Boston’s free bus lines? Funding runs out in June. Any plans for the T to help with funding?
Eng: Well, I’m happy that the city was able to continue to fund through June. Having said that, right now, our focus is the entire system. And while those several routes have enjoyed that, I need to look at the whole system, but I am focused on affordability. That’s why the income-eligible program has been really huge. We’re seeing really a lot of people taking advantage of it. And by reducing all fares across every mode by 50%, that really is helping us to reach an entire geographic area of people that want to use or need to use the system and maybe perhaps in the past have not been able to.
Herz: Lastly, Governor Healey hasn’t announced any sort of search for a permanent secretary of transportation. How long are you planning on doing double duty?
Eng: I enjoy these roles. I love what we do for the public. And whatever the governor needs me to do, I’m more than happy to continue doing this role as interim. I’m more than happy to continue to do both roles. I certainly enjoy the T position, because we have a lot more work to be done there and I’m not ready to give up that role.
Herz: How do you do two big jobs at once?
Eng: Well, transportation, from my perspective, in my experience over 40 years, is it’s seamless. People really want to know, whether it’s one mode or another, how do they work together? And there’s a lot of opportunities for making that type of collaboration happen. Not that it wasn’t before, but me having the ability to manage both, and then also working with our municipal partners and the regional transit authorities. These are things where the public doesn’t care who’s responsible for one or the other. What they want to is that agencies are working together. That’s really my commitment here is to build a strong in-house team on both sides, but to make sure that we are working in a collaborative way. I’m looking for a continuous improvement, and I think that’s what the public expects out of their taxpayer dollars.
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