Biking in Boston

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Bluebikes’ popularity has skyrocketed. This map shows where they are used most and where they lag. - The Boston Globe

Driven by a growing network of pickup stations, the introduction of e-bikes, and expanded discount programs, annual trips on Bluebikes have increased by 2.7 million in just four years.
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Across the 13 municipalities served by the Bluebikes network, managed by the rideshare company Lyft, riders logged more than 4.7 million trips in 2024. Boston, Cambridge, and Somerville were among the top use areas.
Bluebikes launched in 2011 with just 600 bicycles parked at 60 stations in a limited section of Boston. Now the program has more than 3,000 bikes at over 400 stations across the metro area.
Wilkens said one reason the trip numbers have surged recently is the addition of e-bikes, which have made the program more accessible to residents with disabilities or other mobility issues.
Despite the program’s rapid growth, stations in neighborhoods such as Dorchester and Mattapan logged surprisingly few commuter trips. Multiple stations reported fewer than 500 commuter trips in those areas from January 2024 through May 2025.
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It's weird that they chose to slice the data into commute hour trips only. I think the other story of the share-bikes is that tourists and visitors also seem to make use of the relatively good bike infra here. That won't show up in the 8-4 or 9-5 data
 
as02143 said:
It's weird that they chose to slice the data into commute hour trips only. I think the other story of the share-bikes is that tourists and visitors also seem to make use of the relatively good bike infra here. That won't show up in the 8-4 or 9-5 data
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True. And for example, I commute with my personal bike to/from Dorchester, and it's typically only on weekends and for errands that I opt for the bluebike due to the flexibility and not having to worry about bringing a lock.
 
#bancars said:
www.bostonglobe.com

Our loved ones died biking in Cambridge last year. Boston-area candidates need to follow the facts on bike lanes. - The Boston Globe

Some candidates are displaying a staggering lack of regard for people who cycle, victims of traffic violence, and everyone who cares about safer roads.
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I know these people are everywhere including urban areas, but it really is just mind blowing that this fucker Kraft literally lived in a suburb his entire life, then used his inherited billions to buy his way into Boston and presume to tell actual urban citizens how they should keep our streets suburban. He truly is the worst form of arrogance.
 
www.bostonglobe.com

He supported Michelle Wu for mayor. Then the city put a bike lane in front of his Back Bay mansion. - The Boston Globe

It would be easy to paint Boston construction mogul Jay Cashman as anti-bike lane. He insists he’s not that guy.
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Letting perfect be the enemy of progress....

www.cambridgeday.com

Judge temporarily bars Linear Park project work as a lawsuit by Cantabrigians alleges broken laws - Cambridge Day

Cambridge was blocked Wednesday from work on the Alewife Linear Park Reconstruction Project by a temporary restraining order issued in state court.
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This is also frustrating. Anyone with enough $$ can just insert themselves into these projects and put them on hold.
 
BOS2BON said:
This is also frustrating. Anyone with enough $$ can just insert themselves into these projects and put them on hold.
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💯
And they can even fund groups that appear to be neighborhood activists. I have no doubt, for example, that Josh Kraft is in some way behind the recent move by Diane Wilkerson to enter the White Stadium debate. And Jay Cashman is pretty much unabashedly funding the astroturf Pedal Safe Boston group, which is lying when it claims to be a bike advocacy organization.
 
BOS2BON said:
www.bostonglobe.com

He supported Michelle Wu for mayor. Then the city put a bike lane in front of his Back Bay mansion. - The Boston Globe

It would be easy to paint Boston construction mogul Jay Cashman as anti-bike lane. He insists he’s not that guy.
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Letting perfect be the enemy of progress....
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Boston construction mogul Jay Cashman used to be a big supporter of Mayor Michelle Wu. Then came the bike lane on Dartmouth Street in front of his Back Bay mansion.
That was last fall, and the two haven’t talked since.
“This is about the whole city for me now,” Cashman recalled telling Wu in October. “You basically woke me up. This thing is really wrong.”
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So this guy is just peeved that a bike lane got built in front of his mansion against his wishes. What an entitled crybaby.
 
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themissinglink said:
So this guy is just peeved that a bike lane got built in front of his mansion against his wishes. What an entitled crybaby.
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Another old, rich person who thinks because he’s rich he knows better than anyone else.

He may be right that Boston needs some sort of standard plan. And it’s true that Boston road design is slapdash and dumb—in general. I’d be all for a major house cleaning within Boston Public Works department. But the idea that you truly standardize anything related to roads in a city like Boston is also asinine. We need principles underlying safe design but there will never be a one size fits all that works the way it could in most of manhattan.

Also—re Dartmouth St—that road was always planned to be wider to accommodate a park like connector to the river. I don’t remember if that goes right back to the filling of back bay or to the sixties plans, but Dartmouth was always supposed to fill a crucial connection for non drivers, so the two way bike lane in my view is perfectly in line with at least decades of planning.
 
If Jay Cashman really wanted to work to improve bike infrastructure, he would work with the existing grass roots organizations that have been in that space for decades, like the Boston Cyclist Union and MassBike. A lot of his ideas are not reasonable for reasons that he could understand if he took the time to talk with people who have already done this work.
 
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HenryAlan said:
If Jay Cashman really wanted to work to improve bike infrastructure, he would work with the existing grass roots organizations that have been in that space for decades, like the Boston Cyclist Union and MassBike. A lot of his ideas are not reasonable for reasons that he could understand if he took the time to talk with people who have already done this work.
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Exactly. It's the absence of curiosity and the self-assuredness of his position, as if he knows best, that reveals the arrogance of his thinking. I'd say the same of Kraft. He is not from a place that relies on a heavy volume of bike commuters, and started his campaign talking to people who were against bike lanes from the start, rather than bothering to understand the position of someone different than himself.
 
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“The City of Newton has completed construction of a massive two-way biking and walking pathway on Washington Street, connecting West Newton and Newtonville.”

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Their model of longer term rentals and returns only to the same station is going to kill their utilization. Blue bikes, for all its warts, does support the impulse usage (e.g. “It started raining. I am going to grab a bike to cut my commute short”).
 
www.bostonglobe.com

Maps: These hot spots are the worst for bike theft in Boston - The Boston Globe

Bike thefts in Boston have hit high levels between July and September every year since 2016, based on crime incident data.
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Most of the Boston bike thefts occurred in Back Bay, downtown Boston, Dorchester, Fenway, Jamaica Plain, and the South End, according to a Globe analysis of Boston Police Department reports from January 2023 to July 2025. According to the department, location data in the reports can sometimes correspond to the police station where the victim reported the theft, even if it occurred in another neighborhood.
A review of the Boston Police Department’s crime incident reports since 2015 revealed which intersections were the biggest targets for bike thieves over the last decade — and the worst places to park your bike. The top spot for bike thefts was an intersection between the Downtown Crossing and Park Street MBTA stations, where 67 bikes were stolen within a 160-foot radius. A collection of intersections in Back Bay, such as one near the Boston Public Library and in Fenway, were also among the top ten spots for theft.
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