MBTA GM Phil Eng takes over MassDOT, lays out vision for new shared role

With a vote of confidence from Gov. Maura Healey, Eng will pull double duty at MassDOT and the T.

Gov. Maura Healey and MBTA General Manager Phil Eng celebrate the launch of South Coast Rail service. David L Ryan/Boston Globe Staff, File

By Abby Patkin

updated on October 16, 2025

4 minutes to read

Monica Tibbits-Nutt is parting ways with the Massachusetts Department of Transportation after an embattled run as transportation secretary, to be temporarily replaced by MBTA General Manager Phil Eng, Gov. Maura Healey announced Thursday.

Tibbits-Nutt’s departure is effective immediately, though she’ll stay on as an advisor through the end of the year to ensure a smooth transition at MassDOT, Healey’s office said in a news release. The first Black, gay woman to serve as transit chief in the state’s history, Tibbits-Nutt ultimately plans to return to private industry.

“We are grateful for Secretary Tibbits-Nutt’s hard work and dedication to MassDOT and for her willingness to continue to serve as a resource for our administration,” Healey said in a statement, touting several notable infrastructure investments and initiatives from Tibbits-Nutt’s tenure.

Eng, meanwhile, will pull double duty as both head of the MBTA and interim transportation secretary.

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“He is a trusted leader with decades of transportation experience, and I know that he is the right person to lead MassDOT during this period,” Healey said.

The leadership change comes just a day after MassDOT decided to put a contract to redevelop the state’s highway service plazas back out to bid following a contentious process dogged by unresolved legal issues and public mudslinging.

The snafu wasn’t Tibbits-Nutt’s first high-profile controversy. Appointed in 2023, she earned a sharp rebuke from Healey the following year over comments about state border tolls and made headlines for choosing to commute to work by car, despite living just minutes from a commuter rail station. Later in her tenure, Tibbits-Nutt was plagued by accusations of ineffective leadership and absenteeism.

In Eng, meanwhile, Healey found a public transportation darling with a track record of keeping calm and delivering results under fire.

“As General Manager of the MBTA, Phil Eng has overseen a transformative period for public transportation in our state and delivered the results that the people of Massachusetts have needed for a long time when it comes to safety and reliability,” the governor said Thursday.

Addressing reporters following the announcement, Eng pledged to “stay as committed and as focused on delivering and making sure that the positive results that we’re seeing today continue and get even better.”

The “synergy” between the MBTA and MassDOT “is only going to help strengthen what we believe transportation can do for the commonwealth,” he added.

Asked if he’s concerned about spreading himself too thin between the two agencies, Eng replied: “Well, if I thought that, I wouldn’t have taken the role.” He also emphasized the importance of building and maintaining strong teams at both the T and MassDOT.

“My vision is what the public is expecting of us,” Eng continued. “It’s to be able to deliver sound, reliable transportation and deliver meaningful projects, and to make sure that transportation is not something that they have to think about — they could just do it and know it’s there.”

On their way to a 2023 press conference to detail plans for the Sumner Tunnel closure, Eng and Tibbits-Nutt share a laugh on a Blue Line train. – Lane Turner/Boston Globe Staff, File

Eng took over the struggling MBTA in 2023, bringing with him decades of experience in transportation. He’d gotten his start 40 years earlier as a junior engineer at the New York State Department of Transportation, where he rose through the ranks to become the department’s chief engineer and executive deputy commissioner. Eng later served as COO of New York City’s Metropolitan Transit Authority and interim president of NYC Transit before taking the reins at the MTA Long Island Rail Road.

Eng said his candidacy for the permanent secretary role in Massachusetts has “not been discussed,” but he’s “open to holding it as long as it’s needed.”

“My goal, just like any, is to make sure whenever my term is done, I’m going to leave it in a place where it’s successful even beyond what I’ve done,” he added.

Reflecting on his approach to leadership, Eng dispelled any notions of micromanagement and said he aims to empower his teams and give them directions and tools to succeed. He also expressed his desire to “evaluate exactly what went on” in the failed service plaza procurement process, though he agreed with the decision to put the contract back out to bid.

Joining Eng at the press conference, MassDOT Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver — who was promoted to undersecretary of transportation Thursday — said the department will spend the coming months preparing for the rebid “and really look at what the market can do, where we think we can do better.”

“We’re really going to be evaluating all the different options, and our goal is to deliver the best service plazas for the travelers in Massachusetts and the best value for taxpayers,” Gulliver added.

In the meantime, Eng said he plans to continue the boots-on-the-ground strategy he’s employed at the MBTA.

“I will show up wherever I need to show up, because it’s important for the public to know that I’m going to be engaged,” he said.