'Little by little': MBTA GM Phil Eng talks hiring sprees, slow zones and beer

Advertisement

Editor's Note: This is an excerpt from WBUR's daily morning newsletter, WBUR Today. If you like what you read and want it in your inbox, sign up here.

We’re back this morning like Bed Bath & Beyond. We’ll get you up to speed on the new Jan. 6 charges against former President Donald Trump and why they stand apart from his existing legal woes.

But we begin today with the effort to get the MBTA up to speed:

For the first time yesterday, MBTA General Manager Phil Eng took the Green Line’s newly reopened B branch to the WBUR studios for an in-person interview on Radio Boston. (“The ride was fine,” Eng said.) Still less than four months into the job, the longtime New Yorker talked to host Tiziana Dearing about the early challenges and surprises turning around the much-maligned transit system. Here’s what we learned:

Call it Woo-niversal basic income: The city of Worcester will give 52 low-income families monthly payments of $100 to $500 for the next two years. The goal is to provide those selected some financial stability and flexibility to pursue their career goals. The Worcester Community Action Council, which will run the $250,000 program, says it’s the “first of its kind in Central Massachusetts.”

New England Revolution head coach Bruce Arena has been placed on administrative leave due to allegations of “insensitive and inappropriate remarks,” the team announced yesterday. No other details have been released and the MLS says it’s investigating the accusations against Arena, the league’s all-time most successful coach (he previously coached the USMNT, too).

P.S. — The newsmaker train keeps on chugging this week on Radio Boston with none other than Gov. Maura Healey at the mic. Tune in at 11 a.m.