Makai King takes his social media followers along on his journeys riding the rails throughout Greater Boston. Along the way, the 10-year-old offers fun facts about transit history and spreads love for the T on his Instagram page, “Tracks and Facts.” He hopes to inspire other young people to explore their interests and celebrate the things that make them unique.
GBH’s Morning Edition guest host Tori Bedford invited Makai King and his mom Michelle King to the studio to talk more about his passion and learn some fun facts about America’s oldest subway system. What follows is a lightly edited transcript.
Tori Bedford: So Makai, you’ve got a TikTok page with almost 3,000 followers now and an Instagram with over 1,000. Tell us about Tracks and Facts.
Makai King: It’s about facts about the T. Basically telling facts about things back in the day and stuff like that.
So it was like my most dream to be famous. And also me taking the train is actually a big huge journey. I, one time I rode all the lines, very huge.
Prerecorded clips from “Tracks and Facts”: Hey guys, welcome to Tracks and Facts.
Hey guys, it’s your friend Makai, and today we’re gonna be riding the commuter rail. Have you ridden the commuter rail already for free yet?
Hey guys, it’s your friend Makai, and today we’re gonna be riding the T for fun.
Bedford: I see you brought this notebook here today. Can you tell me a little bit about what’s in this notebook?
Makai King: Sure. This is full of facts. Do you mind if I read one to you?
Bedford: Oh, I would love that.
Makai King: OK, OK. Kendall/MIT — my almost-favorite station — the station opened in 1912 as Kendall Station. The station was renamed three times within seven years.
Bedford: Wow. And you were saying Kendall was your second-favorite station. What’s your number-one favorite station?
Makai King: Boston Landing.
Bedford: Why?
Makai King: I just like the station. I also like the station’s platform. It’s pretty cool. It’s basically kind of like Upham’s Corner. Yeah, that’s also my favorite station. I used to go on Upham’s Corner when I was, like, younger.
Bedford: So when you were a young man. Now, you are how old?
Makai King: I’m 10 years old now.
Bedford: OK, so you’re 10 years old. When did this love for the T start?
Makai King: Since I was born. And I used to like the T when I was like three.
Bedford: I guess you just always loved it, huh?
Makai King: I’ve always loved it. Is there any other question you’d like me to ask?
Bedford: When you take the T, what do you like to take with you on the T to make it a fun ride?
Makai King: I like to bring my sister Elise. I also like to bring my mom. You know this, Mom.
Michelle King: Your stuff, like your phone.
Makai King: Like, how am I going to be riding this T by myself?
Bedford: And you actually brought your mom here today. Michelle is with us. Michelle, since you’re here, maybe you can give us a little bit of the background on when you first realized that Makai was a lover of the T.
Michelle King: Yeah, definitely. So I grew up in Boston and I actually did not start driving until my mid-20s. And I had Makai when I was 20. So I would take the T a lot with him.
I want to say around 3 years old, I noticed that he really enjoyed it. Like when he seen it, it was like, “Oh my God, the bus!” And, “Oh, I hear the train!”
As he started to get a little older, from YouTube, he found out that we had a store where you can buy trains. And my brother bought him the commuter rail, and that was like — huge!
And then about a year ago, I found in his old iPad that he had taken a video of himself showing the cars. I didn’t realize what he was doing then, but now it’s like, “Oh, OK! Let’s see where this goes.”
Bedford: So I pulled a couple of clips. I wanted to play a game with you. We’ll call it “Name That Chime.” OK, ready? I’ll play them for you, and you tell me what they are.
Makai King: OK. [chime plays] Jeez, that’s a Red Line.
Bedford: That’s a Red Line! Nice. OK, let’s try the next one. [chime plays]
Makai King: That’s a Blue Line.
Bedford: Yup, that’s the Blue Line! Very impressive. All right, last one. Ready? [chime plays]
Makai King: That was the Orange Line.
Bedford: Yes, it was.
Makai King: That was the old Orange Line.
Bedford: The old Orange Line. You’re right. I’m sorry. That’s not fair! Oh my gosh, that’s totally not fair of me to play you an older sound.
Makai King: It’s OK. I used to ride the old one.
Bedford: Mm-hmm. The new ones are nice.
Makai King: Yeah.
Bedford: You got to meet the T’s general manager, Phil Eng. What was that like?
Makai King: That was like, you know, meeting somebody else famous.
Bedford: Somebody else famous?
Makai King: Mm-hmm.
Bedford: OK, so just two famous people.
Makai King: But somebody that owns something, because he owns my favorite thing, the MBTA.
Bedford: So if you did run the T, do you have ideas about what you would change?
Makai King: OK, I would change that — the commuter rail should have ramps instead of mini-highs. And we’re gonna have to switch the Orange Line, I’m gonna have to take away the old ones.
And we’re not having the Mattapan line, we’re doing a new Mattapan line.
Bedford: Smart. OK — you hear that, Phil Eng? How do we get more people to take the train?
Makai King: So basically, instead of driving, you know how a commuter rail takes you to a different place? Do you not know how quick that is? Yeah, cars should be illegal. I used to love cars secretly.
Bedford: Really?
Makai King: I used to, but now I don’t. Because — do you not know what it feels like to be in a car?
Bedford: I mean, tell me.
Makai King: You have a windshield and a bird poops on your car.
Bedford: Mm-hmm. I don’t know why you’re laughing! That’s not a good situation.
Makai King: Yeah, not a good situation.
Bedford: And then you’d be distracted.
Makai King: Yes, and then you would crash. Mm-hmm.
Bedford: That’s true. OK.
So, someone very special to us here at GBH, he heard you were coming in and he wanted to send you a message. He’s a fan of yours.
Frank Oglesby: Good morning, Makai King of the T. I’m Frank Oglesby. I used to be known as the Voice of the T. I think it’s really cool that you have this hobby in which you get to travel around and enjoy our incredible transit system in Boston.
I follow you now, and I look forward to seeing the videos that you put out going forward. It’s really great.
Michelle King: Are you crying?
Makai King: Yeah.
Bedford: Makai!
Makai King: Give me a tissue.
Michelle King: Frank got my baby overwhelmed.
Bedford: Are these happy tears, I hope?
Makai King: Mm-hmm.
Bedford: Yeah. How do you feel right now?
Makai King: Happy.
Bedford: Yeah, he’s a big fan and he’s really proud of you. Do you want to go back to talking about trains?
Makai King: Is there one last sound I can do?
Bedford: One last sound? Hmm, let me pull something up. [chime plays]
Makai: I think that’s a commuter rail.
Bedford: How do you even memorize all of these sounds of the T? It’s so amazing, just from riding it so constantly.
Makai King: I’ve been riding every single day.
Bedford: For your whole life?
Makai King: Mm-hmm.
Bedford: Very cool.
Is there anything you want to end on, Makai? Is there any advice you want to leave folks with before we wrap it up?
Makai King: I would at least give them some advice. Be safe, and have fun on the T.
Michelle King: And stand behind what?
Makai King: Stand behind the yellow line!
Bedford: Thank you, mom.
