🚇💨 The T is in TURBO MODE

It’s Tuesday, Boston.

📲 If you’ve ever needed an emoji for drinking iced coffee in January … or the Great Molasses Flood … or a Green Line train derailing … good news! We made them all, and more. 

📝 Quick housekeeping note: Some readers let us know they’re having trouble using our referral system. If that’s you, just know we’re working to get it fixed ASAP so you can get all your friends signed up. <3

👀 What’s on tap today:

• Earthquake!!!

• A local egg shortage 

• Somerville’s flyer fight

Up first…

TRANSPORTATION

The MBTA’s need for (more) speed

Train Daddy Eng didn’t *need* another W. But MBTA officials recently said that Red Line trains will be allowed to hit 50 mph between JFK/UMass and Braintree within days — for the first time in decades. 

Here’s what to know:

🐢 There’s a reason the T runs at the pace it does. Namely, safety. If you didn’t know, even when the T is in good repair, speed limits are in place across the system depending on the line and area (for … good reason). Before our year of shutdowns, those speed limits were lowered in many areas thanks to shoddy track conditions, creating our infamous slow zones.

🚇 Even post-slow zones, the T still isn’t living up to its full speed potential. Right now, it has a system-wide speed limit of 40 mph. But fun fact: Parts of the T were designed to go much faster, up to 50 or 55 mph in some places. About 20 years ago, there was “a conscious decision” to cap the system’s speed at 40 mph, according to Jody Ray, senior director for the T’s Maintenance of Way department. 

📝 MBTA GM Phillip Eng is going for extra credit. Now that the T’s track condition is on the up, Eng floated the idea to restore the trains’ original speed limits. To do it, the agency reviewed the tracks between Braintree and JFK/UMass with a “fine-toothed comb,” Ray said. They tackled the problems keeping trains from running at their originally intended speed, from nitty-gritty track maintenance to “vegetation control” (cutting branches). 

🚃 It’s not stopping with the Red Line. The Red Line is “within days” from that speed limit increase becoming a reality, according to the MBTA. Next on deck (albeit, further down the line): Getting the Orange Line back to 55 mph between Assembly and Oak Grove. Buuuut before you get too excited, these speed increases won’t necessarily happen everywhere. In some areas, the “geometry” and number of stops “preclude” trains from going any faster, Eng said.

⏰ The goal isn’t just to speed up your commute. Though that’s a definite perk. Speedier trains also = more reliability. The T’s (many) goals for the future include improving reliability and train frequency, especially outside of peak hours. Having faster trains will ultimately free up the T to run more frequently throughout the day and on the weekends.

TOGETHER WITH FLEXCAR

Manifesting a richer you in 2025 

🚗 This year, we’re saying no to unnecessary car expenses and yes to Flexcar. With one simple monthly plan, you get it all: a car, insurance, maintenance, 24/7 roadside assistance, and you’ll save 30¢ per gallon on gas at Sunoco for every fill up. Whether it’s a Jeep Wrangler for the summer or an EV for spring, you can swap rides like a pro and return or cancel anytime. Use code BSIDE for 200 free miles and drive into the new year stress free.

CITY

Quick & dirty headlines

🫨 If you thought you felt a little rumbling Monday morning … You did! At 10:22 a.m., a 3.8-magnitude earthquake hit about six miles off the coast of York, Maine, which could be felt throughout New England, including in Boston. A quake of this magnitude is relatively rare, happening in New England about once every five years. It clocked in as the 18th strongest earthquake in or off the coast of Maine. Thankfully, a 3.8 isn’t quite enough to cause any real damage, but that didn’t stop the internet from making jokes about it.

🚌 MBTA buses are going to be hitting fewer red lights. On Monday, the MBTA announced that, after a successful pilot on Brighton Avenue, the agency will implement Transit Signal Priority (TPS) citywide. TPS is basically a system that adjusts traffic signals (like lights) to prioritize public transit and make buses faster and more reliable. In the pilot, buses spent 21% less time at red lights and cut travel time by 8% — a total of 110 minutes each weekday across the buses. Now that the pilot is an official success, the MBTA and Boston are implementing it on buses across the city.

📲 Some Mass. lawmakers want to ban smartphones at school. In fact, they’ve filed seven bills this term to make it happen: One co-sponsored by AG Andrea Campbell seeks to restrict students from using their smartphones from “bell-to-bell” and regulate social media companies to combat their proven harm to teens. Some districts have already moved to ban phone usage during the day, and several states have passed similar legislation. Now, the ball is in the Legislature’s court. 

🍳 Grocery stores are scrambling to put eggs on the shelf. It’s not just you: Eggs are hard to come by these days. Why? We have the bird flu to thank. While the disease is mostly impacting flocks in California and the Midwest, it’s limiting how many eggs local grocers can order, creating more competition with places that are more highly impacted. Another not-so-great consequence: Egg prices are through the roof, up 36% since December.

QUICK QUESTION!

📲 Do you think that Mass. should restrict cellphone use at school?

GIVEAWAY

Together with Emerson Colonial Theatre

Enter to win tickets to four must-see shows at Emerson Colonial Theatre! To enter, just refer a friend and have them accept your invite by the end of the day on Jan. 29. If you have already referred a friend to B-Side (and they’ve accepted), you're eligible! Full details below*

18+. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Limit one entry per person. See Official Rules & an additional entry option here.

ONE LAST THING

Somerville’s flyer fight

The latest showdown over a new high-rise in Mass. is happening … on flyers. It's a tale as old as … apartment buildings. Some property owners in Davis Square are trying to get a 25-story, 500-unit apartment building built in the area, and not everyone’s on board.

But many residents are learning about it via … a flyer battle. Yes, like, on paper. 

If you visit the area, you might see flyers that read: “Do we really want something like this in Davis Square?” over an apparently exaggerated image of a building towering over the square. Or, you might see … a rebuttal flyer, mocking the OG flyer’s take in a classic meme format (see above).

At least one public official is seeing the silver lining, saying the incident spurred “a real discussion of what the real proposal is. That’s a net positive in my book.”

— Written by Gia Orsino and Emily Schario

🏢 Thanks for reading! We would personally love to see more local issues hashed out via flyer. 

💜 Special shoutout to today’s sponsor, Flexcar, for supporting local journalism and making transportation more affordable and accessible in Boston. 

🏛️ The results are in: 50% of B-Siders think that though City Hall is hideous, it deserves to stick around. One reader said: “The Boston way is to love something more because everyone else hates it.” So true.

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