Editor's note: this article is an edited City of Boston press release.
Mayor Michelle Wu and the Streets Cabinet announced the launch of a Citywide planning process to add 100 new Bluebikes stations across every neighborhood in Boston. The expansion will meet rising demand and increase the reliability of the City’s public bike share system.
The city will implement the bike share expansion in phases. For the first phase, to be implemented this year, new stations will be installed in Beacon Hill, Chinatown, Downtown, North End, South End, and the West End.
“Investing in our regional bike share program is a key component to Boston reaching its transportation goals,” said Jascha Franklin-Hodge, Chief of Streets for the City of Boston. “We are focused on improving the reliability of Bluebikes and ensuring residents have easy access to bike share in every neighborhood. This complements our work to connect and expand our network of protected bike lanes, encouraging more people to use Bluebikes because they feel safer and more comfortable riding on our streets.”
The City also plans to acquire about 1,000 new bikes to add to the network in conjunction with the new stations (that would be a 25 percent increase in the total Bluebikes fleet).
The City has held two in-person open houses to share potential sites in these neighborhoods with the public, where residents were invited to drop in and share comments in person. A third virtual Open House will be held on August 14. An online survey is also available at boston.gov/bike-share-survey. Residents’ comments will inform the final locations. New stations will be installed starting in Fall 2024.
The next phase of expansion planning will start this fall with potential locations for new stations in Charlestown, East Boston, South Boston, and the Seaport. The City will launch the final phase of expansion planning for stations in the remaining neighborhoods in 2025. Learn more at boston.gov/bike-share-expansion.
In the Fall 2023, the City installed eight new stations in Mattapan and Dorchester and added 31 docks to existing stations. Planning in this phase was accelerated to provide rapid response support for the MBTA’s Red Line diversion.
Bike share is an affordable transportation option, with the Boston Bikes Pass available to income-eligible Boston residents who participate in various public assistance programs for $5 per year. Any Boston resident who has not had an annual Bluebikes membership in the last three years is eligible for a $60 per year membership. Learn more at boston.gov/discounted-bluebikes
