Brighten Your Day

Boston Trains Now Have Googly Eyes Thanks To Community Rally

June 29, 2024

Today's good news story comes from Boston, Massachusetts.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) has adorned five of its trains with giant googly eyes, thanks to a successful community petition.

MBTA

The idea originated back in April when a small group of local residents held a rally and march on Boston Common. Despite the modest turnout, the group had a singular, joyful mission: to convince the MBTA to add googly eyes to its trains.

Their wish has now been granted.

we ran a march to get googly eyes on the MBTA and got:
- a few dozen people to spend an hour yelling chants about googly eyes
- news coverage from almost every major boston news outlet
- recognition from the @MBTA

read more: https://t.co/fBxGXpuBcr pic.twitter.com/BKY3KZbx7V

— ariloo 🌱 (@ariellelok) April 30, 2024

MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo shared the news in a statement: "After receiving public suggestions, our team found a safe way to install these 'googly' eyes on a limited number of vehicles as part of our ongoing efforts to bring moments of joy to our riders' daily commutes."

One of the rally organizers, Arielle Lok, expressed her excitement about the initiative’s success.

"The goal was always to brighten people's day and bring some joy to commuters," Lok explained to WBUR. "The silliest of ideas tend to have a lot of just outsized impact, and I think that if I saw a T with some eyes, my day would be made."

Watch the local news video below.