Biking in Boston

[BostonUrbEx]

I just wish the machines could dispense helmets too (which you would return or incur a fine for the price of the helmet). It would be nice to have this sort of self-contained, ready-to-go bike system. You might want to go on a bike ride and not have a helmet with you at the time (maybe you took the T there).

Eww, if they did that, it better come with lysol, too. :x



I have no idea why the Longwood map was shown as "you are here", I wonder if every station is like that right now...

 

[datadyne007]

Bleh, it's 2011, sophisticated sanitation techniques exist. (Yes, they also cost money) I'm just thinking out loud.

 

[jass]

I just wish the machines could dispense helmets too (which you would return or incur a fine for the price of the helmet). It would be nice to have this sort of self-contained, ready-to-go bike system. You might want to go on a bike ride and not have a helmet with you at the time (maybe you took the T there).

One of the competing proposals included helmet dispensing machines.

Helmets are actually incredibly cheap. Bike shops may have you believe they cost $25....

But the helmets police departments use? $2 a pop.

The plan was to have a newspaper style honor box with helmets sold at $3.

Could people take 10 at a time? Sure. But the newspapers have done this for decades, and the sunday NYT is actually pricier than that....

If theft became an issue, simply putting a scale in the box + credit card only would solve the problem.

Alex Jones charges a helmet and the sensor detects 7 are removed? Alex Jones gets billed for 7.

(You may have seen this in minibars)



As for me, I was all over Boston today, including various bikeshare locations...

But the only one I found was South Station. Impressive station. Something like 40 docks, with room for expansion if necessary. Pics soon.

DTX? Couldnt find it.
The two at fan pier? Couldnt find them.
Harvard and Western? Didnt see it while waiting for the 66.

Also a review of the website notes that the station map has radically changed.

41 stations deployed.
0 coming soon.

What happened to the other 20....?

 

[datadyne007]

The website's station map isn't very reliable yet. There's a lot of sync'ing issues with it. For example, today it said that South Sta had 0 bikes, 3 docks when it really has 47.

 

[jass]

Why is a car casually parked here...?

 

[HenryAlan]

Wow, that South Station set-up looks great!

 

[Lurker]

The system launch was delayed 2 days, 1/3 of the promised stations haven't been installed by the day of launch, and there's no map showing where the missing 20 stations will be located? That's rather disconcerting. Has anyone tried counting the number of bikes to see if the numbers are anywhere near the promised 600?

 

[Toucano]

Why is a car casually parked here...?

Amtrak Police? I hate it when cops do this - there is no need to obstruct the sidewalk unless there is clearly an emergency. 99.99% of the time - this is not the case.

 

[mass88]

There are always cars parked in that area of South Station. I honestly don't see the need for it and think it's annoying. It's almost like they are flaunting the fact that they can park their cars there like it's cool or something.

From what I have seen, these bikes are popular. I was driving down Storrow and saw a whole family of 6 riding them and father down saw a bunch of other people riding them.

 

[briv]

Here's a photo of the poorly placed rack in front of the BPL mentioned earlier:

 

[datadyne007]

I was going to post "what were they thinking?" but they clearly were not even thinking at all. Why not just set the station along the road, slightly behind the pylons? Instead they plopped it in the middle of this plaza that actually works. This would be fine in City Hall Plaza, actually.

 

[Shepard]

It's very easy for them to modify the placements and there will be lots of tweaking on individual sites in coming weeks. In the meantime we should email
and let them know...

 

[datadyne007]

It's very easy for them to modify the placements and there will be lots of tweaking on individual sites in coming weeks. In the meantime we should email
and let them know...

Maybe it's just an in-your-face approach now. You certainly can't miss it as it stands haha.

Also, a new planned station at Boylston/Berkeley, 1 block from Arlington and 1 block from Copley... interesting.

 

[jass]

It's very easy for them to modify the placements and there will be lots of tweaking on individual sites in coming weeks. In the meantime we should email
and let them know...

Its actually not that cheap, because you need crew of 5 + small crane on scene.

Fast? yes, can be done in two hours.

Cheap?

Nope.

Ill be posting pics soon of some other locations I saw today.

Some are just.....wrong.

 

[jass]

A few more locations.

On Greenway, near the arch. Not a bad placement, although wish it was closer to an intersection for ease of access.

Aquarium, very bad placement...it's right there in the open, and at the same side, completely hidden. Blends in with the existing bike racks.

Some kind of signage pointing to this location would help. Very busy area.

Harvard and Western.

Enjoys hiding.

 

[JohnAKeith]

So, who has signed up for the Hubway?

Walk me through the sign-up process. You go to their website, sign up for membership (currently $60 per year), store a credit card, then a week later you get a key and a helmet in the mail, right? Then you can just go to a terminal and unlock a bike, take it anywhere, and leave it there?

And, at some point, locations & number of bikes will be available on smart phones?

 

[BostonUrbEx]

You'll receive the key in the mail and the helmet if you checked off the box to buy one. You'll have to activate your key upon receiving it (instruction in mail with key). Then you stick the key in a little slot in the rack next to the bike you want and simply pull the bike out. When returning, make sure you slam the bike in and shake it a bit, making sure a green light flashes.


I don't know about the app, but from what I hear it is already up and running.

 

[JohnAKeith]

Thanks.

I see now that you can also use a bike without signing up for an annual membership, but pay a higher charge each time you use it. (Both types of membership allow a 30-minute free ride each ride.)

Does it make a whole lot of sense to sign up for a membership? The price differential is 25% between annual and "casual" memberships.

Also, has anyone noticed that, in addition to New Balance, "Seaport Square" is also a sponsor, with their name on every bike? That's very interesting.

 

[jass]

Thanks.

I see now that you can also use a bike without signing up for an annual membership, but pay a higher charge each time you use it. (Both types of membership allow a 30-minute free ride each ride.)

Does it make a whole lot of sense to sign up for a membership? The price differential is 25% between annual and "casual" memberships.

Also, has anyone noticed that, in addition to New Balance, "Seaport Square" is also a sponsor, with their name on every bike? That's very interesting.

Actually, the difference in price isnt just the higher use fees, but the per day charge. You should rarely, if ever, go over 30 minutes.

At $5 per day, if you use it more than 12 times, you should have gone for the annual.

I suggest trying the daily once to see if the bike design and station location is to your liking.

Remember that they havent installed all 61 yet.

And in DC, 10 stations were "coming soon" for 8 months!



I saw the kenmore station today, like the other comm ave stations, its been placed on the outbound side, near the BU bookstore, in parking spaces.

There is ZERO clearance between the last dock and the parking space next to it. If a bike hasnt been hit by next week, I will eat one.

Makes no sense.

 

[datadyne007]

Of the 10 people I saw using Hubway bikes today, only 1 was wearing a helmet. I fear that the lack of helmets might adversely effect the system, especially in the press/media.