🚲💨 The case for e-bikes

It's Tuesday, Boston.

🥶 Grab your parkas and puffers, people. It’s officially winter coat season.

👀 What’s on tap today:

• The state’s first snow of the season

• Pot prices plummet

• A basement fit for a queen

Up first…

TRANSPORTATION

Could Bluebikes become e-bikes?

There’s a lot to like about e-bikes: They’re faster than a normal bicycle, they require less pedaling effort, and they can generally get you from point A to B without reducing you to a puddle of sweat.

And it seems like every other city has figured that out — except Boston. Bluebikes is the only major bikeshare in the country that doesn’t have e-bikes in its fleet, but that might not be the case for long.

“We’re sort of in the midst of planning how we could do this in a way that aligns with our values and our vision for the system,” said Jascha Franklin-Hodge, the Chief of Streets for the City of Boston.

And as this planning takes place, there are two big questions that need to be answered:

1. How do we pay for it? E-bikes are expensive to buy and operate, and municipalities in the bikeshare program would be responsible for the upfront cost.

2. How do we implement them? Current Bluebikes’ docking stations can’t charge e-bikes, so there’d need to be a decision on how many charging stations get built and how many e-bikes would be available per station.

And then everyone has to agree on No. 1 and 2 — at least the Bluebikes governing body of Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, Somerville, and Everett. And that might not be easy.

“It’s like trying to get everyone to choose a new favorite color,” Cambridge City Councilor Barhan Azeem said.

So when can you expect to ride an e-bike using the Bluebikes system? “We're kind of in the weeds now. … I’ll probably have a better sense in a month or two,” Franklin-Hodge said.

But once they nail down the details, “We look to add e-bikes as soon as we can reasonably implement whatever structure we come up with,” Franklin-Hodge said.

CITY

Quick & Dirty Headlines

❄️ If you live west of I-495, expect to see the first snowflakes of the season tonight. Which feels strange to say given highs were well into the 70s this past weekend. The northwestern corner of the state will likely see the most accumulation with one to three inches. The 495 corridor will see some flakes that will likely turn into a slushy dusting. And for those of us in the Greater Boston area? A cold, rainy evening will have to suffice.

📉 Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen may get burned by a crypto collapse. The former couple and other celebs were ambassadors for FTX, a crypto currency exchange that filed for bankruptcy protection on Friday. It had been the world’s third-largest cryptocurrency exchange only a few days before it crashed. Brady and Bündchen entered a “long-term partnership” with FTX in 2021 and were given undisclosed equity stakes in the company, but after FTX filed for bankruptcy, Market Watch reports that investor equity could potentially be wiped out.

🥦 Pot prices in Mass. are on the decline. After years of some of the highest prices in the country, the average price of one gram of recreational smokable marajuana hit an all-time low of $7.97 in October, according to the Cannabis Control Commission. While consumers are excited, marijuana business owners are worried as the dropping cost of bud is eating at profits. And the competition is only growing as new applicants for cultivation are in the licensing process.

THINGS TO DO

Taco Tuesday deals

🤑 Grab $1 tacos from Rincón Mexicano, one of the best Mexican restaurants in the city, according to Boston magazine. The deal is only available for dine in.

🎀 Get a plateful of pink tacos for $12 at, you guessed it, Pink Taco. The taco shells are a fun bright pink, and you’ll save $7 off the plate’s usual price.

🌮 Snag any three tacos for $6.99 at Cantina La Mexicana. Choose from any of their 10 flavors. I’d go for the chorizo and potato and al pastor.

🎉 Have yourself a taco party downtown at Bodega Canal with their ever-rotating taco deals ranging from $1 to $4. Check their IG for updates and extras.

🍹 Sip and munch on a fish taco and a Shack margarita combo for only $10 at Summer Shack. The deal is available every Tuesday, so mark your calendar.

ONE LAST THING

Once upon a time in Brockton

For the low price of $699,900, you can own a fairytale home — literally. While ordinary on the outside, the basement of this three-bed, three-bath home in Brockton is designed to look just like a storybook land, fully equipped with murals, stonework, a candelabra … and a wet bar.

Listing agent Isabel Barros, of Vicente Realty, said the current sellers bought the house like this, but liked to use the royal basement for parties. Doth thou fancy a banquet?

I can only imagine the amount of shiplap Joanna Gaines would put on those walls if she got her hands on it.

😡 Thanks for reading! I recently learned that WalletHub ranked Boston as the second best sports city in the U.S. with Los Angeles taking the No. 1 spot. I’d like to speak to the manager.

💃 For more hot takes and late night thoughts, follow me on Twitter and IG @emilyschario. Send comments and suggestions to [email protected].