Sources
The receipts
Every claim on this site, with its source.
The numbers
| Claim | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 0 slow zones | All 220+ speed restrictions eliminated by December 2024, the first restriction-free system in about 20 years. The Orange Line was restriction-free for the first time in roughly 15 years. | Commonwealth of Massachusetts press release, 12/23/24 · mbta.com Track Improvement Program |
| 2.4 million minutes | Returned to riders collectively every weekday from slow zone removal. | mass.gov, 12/23/24 |
| About $1M per day | Daily economic benefit from the time savings, roughly $300 million a year for the region. | mass.gov, 12/23/24 · Metro Magazine, 12/23/24 |
| 250,000+ feet of rail | Replaced since 2023: about 251,500 feet of new rail, 38,000 ties, 325,000 feet of tamping, and 15,400 feet of full-depth track reconstruction. | MBTA · Metro Magazine, 12/23/24 |
| 25% → 92% on time | Share of Red, Blue, and Orange line riders arriving on time, November 2023 compared with late 2025. | Christian Science Monitor, 11/15/25 |
| 35% → 67% satisfied | Rider satisfaction in the month Eng started compared with November 2025, the highest in over a decade. A separate MBTA survey in October 2025 found 74% somewhat to extremely satisfied, against 37% two years earlier. | CBS Boston, 12/18/25 · Christian Science Monitor, 11/15/25 |
| 1,300+ new hires | Hired since January 2023, bringing the workforce past 7,700, the largest since 1999. | APTA Passenger Transport, 10/2024 · Boston Globe, 12/16/24 |
| +12% ridership | FY25 MBTA ridership growth, credited to improved service and reliability. | MassDOT Tracker, FY25 |
| 40 → 50 mph | Red Line Braintree Branch speeds raised in March 2025, the first increase in over 20 years. | mbta.com Track Improvement Program |
| 40 years in 14 months | Eng's own characterization of the volume of deferred maintenance completed. | CBS Boston, 12/18/25 |
| 23 planned closures | Full-access diversions in 2024. Eng described the approach as ripping off the Band-Aid. | mbta.com · CBS Boston |
| First union deals in a decade | July 2024 labor agreements with all T unions for the first time in over 10 years, raising wages and supporting hiring. | Boston Globe, 12/16/24 |
| Federal reversal | FTA chief safety officer Joe DeLorenzo, from the agency that investigated the T in 2022, traveled to Boston to call the milestone a key moment and a new era. | NBC10 Boston · WWLP, 12/23/24 |
The stories
| Story | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Daily rider | Rides the Blue Line to the Green Line from his East Boston apartment around 7 a.m., and reports problems he spots himself. | Boston Globe profile, 5/28/25 |
| Day one | Rode the Blue Line and spoke with riders before his first press conference as general manager. | NBC10 Boston, 4/10/23 |
| Standing ovation | Received one from riders, and described the feeling as being humbled. | Boston Globe, 5/28/25 |
| Public recognition | Riders stop him for selfies. One texted a friend that Eng is a personal hero. An Emerson junior ran out of a campus building to meet him. | Boston Globe, 12/16/24 |
| Out of retirement | Took the job after the Long Island Rail Road because he missed fixing things, an interest he traces to childhood tin toys. | CBS Boston, 12/18/25 |
| The Reddit posts | Riders on r/mbta posted that Eng deserves a statue. His children show him the posts. | CBS Boston, 12/18/25 |
| Union assessment | Carmen's Union president Jim Evers, representing about 7,000 workers, says he has not seen the agency in better shape during his career there. | NBC10 Boston, 12/23/24 |
| Governor's assessment | Healey has called hiring Eng probably the most important appointment she has made. | Boston Globe, 12/16/24 |
| Prior record | At the Long Island Rail Road he delivered the best on-time performance in that railroad's history. | APTA Passenger Transport, 10/2024 |
| Accountability case | After employees at the Cabot Yard maintenance facility were found working on private vehicles during work hours, Eng announced terminations in October 2024 and Transit Police contacted federal authorities. In May 2025, five current and former employees were federally charged with falsifying Red Line track inspection reports. The MBTA credited Eng with taking immediate action to hold the employees accountable. | Boston Globe, boston.com, NBC10 Boston, 5/29/25 · Banker & Tradesman, 5/30/25 |
| National comparison | While other large transit systems faced service-cutting budget crises in 2025, transit historians pointed to the T as a model. | Christian Science Monitor, 11/15/25 |