After a small group of people demanded googly eyes on the T, the MBTA obliged, and five trains in Boston now feature googly eyes.
If you are a regular commuter of Boston trains, chances are bright you have noticed the trains staring back at you!
Thanks to the efforts of two college graduates – John Sanchez and Arielle Lok, along with a small group, organized a march in April this year.
Their only request to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority was to put googly eyes on trains to boost commuter morale.
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The group made the quirky request to make boring train trips interesting and put a smile on travelers’ faces, which was now granted by the MBTA, according to WBUR.
Sanchez and Lok created an event page for this purpose that read, “Humans are an empathetic species—we want to relate to the world around us, to feel a connection to our surroundings and our public transit system.”
The page read further, “When T trains are delayed, people can at least look into the eyes of the train when it finally arrives, and feel some love and understanding in their hearts. The T doesn’t want to be late. It feels bad being late.”
Owing to their request, the MBTA pasted the googly eye decals onto four Green Line trains and one Commuter Rail Locomotive.
Lok and Sanchez came up with the idea of googly eyes on the T, by taking inspiration from Vancouver, where every December, they decorate their buses as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, which brings so much joy and happiness to people.
MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo gave a statement saying, “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.”
After Lok and Sanchez received an email confirmation from Pesaturo on behalf of MBTA that their request was accepted, they were ecstatic.
The quirky move is aimed at bringing a smile to the faces of passengers, who suffer at times due to route changes, delays, and even safety issues.
Pesaturo shared that the agency is always striving to create a positive experience and a connection with the community through musical performances in stations, special announcements by young people with autism, or these playful googly eyes.
As expected, the response has been extremely positive from not only the riders but even employees, and a simple step of trying to humanize trains seems to have brought so much joy to everyone involved.
