MBTApocalypse!: Blue Bikes
Well. It’s been a wild few months for the MBTA. We at Hirsh know many of you commute in from other parts of Boston. (Some of our staff certainly do.) So, we decided to create some helpful guides so you can navigate the new school year– or even just navigate to class– with relative ease.
And today, I’d like to bring your attention to… Blue Bikes! These bikes are all around Boston, and courtesy of the University, you can get a discount on a yearly membership (~60$ a year, whichy is cheaper than a monthly link pass with the MBTA)
Here is a more comprehensive map of the Blue Bikes available around the Greater Metro area. You can see a few of them are within a block from 145 Harrison Ave.
Watch out! The Mass Department of Conservation & Recreation reports any changes to bike paths or detours for the greater metro area. For instance, the Southwest Corridor Bike Path might have rolling repairs during September, so keep your eye on the MassDCR Twitter feed.
And, please: WEAR A HELMET!
The Race Underground: Boston, New York, and the Incredible Rivalry That Built America’s First Subway is a fascinating look at one of modern society’s most taken-for-granted features: public transit. Specifically, it’s a look at the events and people that helped create the public transit systems that would eventually become New York City’s MTA and Boston’s MBTA. Doug Most’s prose can occasionally veer off the main rail of the story, but always with the purpose of making sure the reader understands the personalities and the politics that formed the United States in the late 1800s.
It’s particularly interesting to see names that have passed into near myth appear on the pages – names like Teddy Roosevelt, Boss Tweed, and Thomas Edison. You can also see the seeds of the 20th century sewn, as others – such as John F Kennedy’s grandfather – show up and either throw their support for a subway in their city or stand in the way and try to block what was seen as a public menace.
Doug Most is very clearly deeply interested in this period in history, and it shows in his prose as he paints the scene of two Northeast cities exploding with populations and scrambling to handle the sudden influx of people. His enthusiasm shines through so clearly that it’s hard not to become drawn in and read quickly in hopes of finding out which city would eventually go on to make history in the US. Which is particularly impressive, given that it is a matter of public record (and pride for that particular city).
Quite frankly, it’s also just fun to see all of this form, and try to match the images presented in the book up against one’s own experience getting around NYC and Boston. Times have changed drastically since these days.
The Race Underground is a great read for the summer (especially when you can find somewhere air conditioned to read it). You can find it in the Tufts Library catalog and order it from Tisch here. Fun fact: it’s a 90 day rental!
Happy Reading!
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Load More...Jeremy Siegel@jersiegelWe here at HHSL believe in science and will always listen to @growingwisdom over any rodent.
"I am a meteorologist. Groundhogs are rodents."
-@growingwisdom to @BonjourParis_ and me on @GBHNews this morning (Dave is not a fan of Groundhog Day, in case you were wondering)GSBS faculty member @lindenhu_md and alum James Phelan have a new paper out in @MicrobioSoc. They talk about factors in the survival of Borrelia burgdorferi, which causes Lyme disease, in ticks and mice. @TuftsLyme https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/micro/10.1099/mic.0.001286
NYT Science@NYTScienceSomething to keep in mind, particularly for active users! Also interesting if you're thinking of buying an elderly loved one an Apple watch for fall detection
Something about the way skiers accelerate and stop, or jostle, seems to set Apple’s crash-detection technology on high alert. And skiers, helmeted and wrapped in clothing, often fail to detect the warning or the call from the 911 dispatcher. https://nyti.ms/3HoWSZ6
Spring will get here...eventually
Not much is expected of the Red Sox in 2023, but Truck Day rolls on nonetheless https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/02/02/sports/red-sox-truck-day/?event=event25 via @BostonGlobe