Biking in Boston

Lyft has been selected for the next Bluebikes operator contract. They were the only ones to submit a complete bid.

Notable difference in the new contract from the old one: expansion municipalities will no longer have to contribute towards operating costs. This will make expanding into new municipalities (Quincy, Waltham, Winthrop, Lynn, and Belmont were listed as targets in the RFP) much more likely and reduces the burden on municipalities that had expanded into the system during the current contract, making further expansion in those municipalities more likely.
 
KCasiglio said:
Notable difference in the new contract from the old one: expansion municipalities will no longer have to contribute towards operating costs. This will make expanding into new municipalities (Quincy, Waltham, Winthrop, Lynn, and Belmont were listed as targets in the RFP) much more likely and reduces the burden on municipalities that had expanded into the system during the current contract, making further expansion in those municipalities more likely.
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This is excellent.

I wonder how much the BlueBikes system will expand long-term. It would be great if they eventually expand to some of the suburbs outside of 128 (Danvers, Framingham, Needham, Norwood, Reading, Weymouth, etc.) once all of the Metro Boston communities are part of the network.
 
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KCasiglio said:
Notable difference in the new contract from the old one: expansion municipalities will no longer have to contribute towards operating costs. This will make expanding into new municipalities (Quincy, Waltham, Winthrop, Lynn, and Belmont were listed as targets in the RFP) much more likely and reduces the burden on municipalities that had expanded into the system during the current contract, making further expansion in those municipalities more likely.
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This does seem like a net positive, but does it mean the existing municipalities in the system will have to cover more operating expenses as the system grows? Will new municipalities never contribute to these costs, or just be exempt given certain criteria? Again, any expansion would be an overall net positive, both for existing users and new ones, but handling funding like this seems odd.
 
BeansTheCat said:
This does seem like a net positive, but does it mean the existing municipalities in the system will have to cover more operating expenses as the system grows? Will new municipalities never contribute to these costs, or just be exempt given certain criteria? Again, any expansion would be an overall net positive, both for existing users and new ones, but handling funding like this seems odd.
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Existing municipalities were already not contributing to the operating costs. There are capital investments, such as the planned charging-capable stations, that are expected to lower the operating costs (not having to pay people to drive around swapping batteries), and I believe they are anticipating increased revenue from the branding rights which already helps fund operations.
 
themissinglink said:
This is excellent.

I wonder how much the BlueBikes system will expand long-term. It would be great if they eventually expand to some of the suburbs outside of 128 (Danvers, Framingham, Needham, Norwood, Reading, Weymouth, etc.) once all of the Metro Boston communities are part of the network.
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Scuttlebutt is that Waltham and Beverly are really eager to join. Quincy is actively going through the prework right now. We developed a methodology to score census blocks to help with location prioritization, it would be fun to run it on a region-wide level, but based on the early Quincy results I would expect very little outside of 128 to perform well.

One lesson that folks don't seem to be learning quickly enough, that applies to bikeshare but also other active transportation initiatives, is that the land use and active transportation facilities need to come first. You can install all the stations you want but they aren't going to get used if biking in that area is a sucky experience.
 
KCasiglio said:
We developed a methodology to score census blocks to help with location prioritization, it would be fun to run it on a region-wide level, but based on the early Quincy results I would expect very little outside of 128 to perform well.

One lesson that folks don't seem to be learning quickly enough, that applies to bikeshare but also other active transportation initiatives, is that the land use and active transportation facilities need to come first. You can install all the stations you want but they aren't going to get used if biking in that area is a sucky experience.
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That makes sense.

I wonder how well BlueBikes would perform on Cape Cod along the rail trail. I could see it being very popular during the summer, especially as the Cape's bike trail network gets expanded.
 
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/08/26/opinion/boston-bike-lanes-mass-ave-beacon-street/

From time-to-time, Jeff Jacoby writes thoughtfully-argued opinion pieces. This is not one of them.

For those blocked by a paywall, all you have to know is that the entire piece rests on this absolute howler of a strawman argument:

Fortunately, no one insists that bicycles belong on the interstate. But as I watched the video of the scene, I couldn’t help wondering how long it will be before the unrelenting bicycle lobby begins to demand just that. After all, if it makes sense to carve bike lanes out of Massachusetts Avenue, Beacon Street, and other congested thoroughfares in Boston, Cambridge, and Brookline, why shouldn’t the logic extend to I-93 as well?

Why, indeed? Who in this entire vast universe could possibly imagine there are salient major fundamental differences distinguishing surface roads from highways, such that bicycles might be appropriate for the former but not the latter?

Needless to say, given that this is the ludicrous foundation the piece is built upon, it descends even further into irrational scare-mongering gaslighting. A truly asinine piece, demonstrating intellectual impoverishment of a spectacular degree.
 
Ironically, even the strawman he's using is wrong: There are a number of highly successful bikeways following freeways, with the I-205 Multiuse Trail a good example. Bikeways along many of the region's freeways would be a game-changer for mobility and make them much more useful to the communities they cut through.
 
The EGE said:
Ironically, even the strawman he's using is wrong: There are a number of highly successful bikeways following freeways, with the I-205 Multiuse Trail a good example. Bikeways along many of the region's freeways would be a game-changer for mobility and make them much more useful to the communities they cut through.
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For what it's worth, he's getting beautifully roasted and ratioed in the comments section, with numerous posters ridiculing him for his ridiculous strawman argument.
 
KCasiglio said:
Lyft has been selected for the next Bluebikes operator contract. They were the only ones to submit a complete bid.

Notable difference in the new contract from the old one: expansion municipalities will no longer have to contribute towards operating costs. This will make expanding into new municipalities (Quincy, Waltham, Winthrop, Lynn, and Belmont were listed as targets in the RFP) much more likely and reduces the burden on municipalities that had expanded into the system during the current contract, making further expansion in those municipalities more likely.
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I would like to see stations out the full length of the Minuteman. I wouldn’t want to tempt fate with including the Reformatory Branch, but being able to one-way out to the North Bridge would be cool.
 
DBM said:
Needless to say, given that this is the ludicrous foundation the piece is built upon, it descends even further into irrational scare-mongering gaslighting. A truly asinine piece, demonstrating intellectual impoverishment of a spectacular degree.
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Definitely an example of a strawman argument, along with another Globe favorite, where he mentions the Suffolk poll that indicates a slight majority believe that bike lanes cause traffic. That may well be true, but it doesn't in any respect prove the point. Jacoby (and before him Shirley Leung) conflates uninformed opinion with data. The entire foundation of his argument is based on something that isn't true.
 
Cambridge has been busy with their bike lanes this summer:
- Broadway (Portland to Columbia) was largely installed in July. Looks like just posts and symbols remain: https://bsky.app/profile/cyclejargon.bsky.social/post/3lt3isbd3mk2b
- Main St (Portland to Sidney Ext) was also largely installed in July and same: just posts and symbols remain: https://bsky.app/profile/ojc.bsky.social/post/3lvvajkjoq22p
- Waverly St: (Brookline St to Henry St): was largely installed in July and same: just posts and symbols remain.
- Vassar St (Memorial Dr to Amesbury St): looks like the existing markings have been ground out and layout of the new lines is visible.
- Aberdeen Ave: Street was repaved over the last few weeks and the layout lines for separated bike lanes along the median are visible.
- River St: It's moving along, but not a paint and post project, so it's slow.
- Mass Ave (Harvard to Porter): the median on Mass Ave has been removed to enable utility work that's a precursor to the separated bike lanes.
 
KCasiglio said:
Lyft has been selected for the next Bluebikes operator contract. They were the only ones to submit a complete bid.

Notable difference in the new contract from the old one: expansion municipalities will no longer have to contribute towards operating costs. This will make expanding into new municipalities (Quincy, Waltham, Winthrop, Lynn, and Belmont were listed as targets in the RFP) much more likely and reduces the burden on municipalities that had expanded into the system during the current contract, making further expansion in those municipalities more likely.
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Is there a source/press release for this?
 
I don't know why they haven't advertised it anywhere except their IG story, but there's a Critical Mass ride tonight, leaving from Copley at 6pm!
 
sm89 said:
Cambridge has been busy with their bike lanes this summer:
- Broadway (Portland to Columbia) was largely installed in July. Looks like just posts and symbols remain: https://bsky.app/profile/cyclejargon.bsky.social/post/3lt3isbd3mk2b
- Main St (Portland to Sidney Ext) was also largely installed in July and same: just posts and symbols remain: https://bsky.app/profile/ojc.bsky.social/post/3lvvajkjoq22p
- Waverly St: (Brookline St to Henry St): was largely installed in July and same: just posts and symbols remain.
- Vassar St (Memorial Dr to Amesbury St): looks like the existing markings have been ground out and layout of the new lines is visible.
- Aberdeen Ave: Street was repaved over the last few weeks and the layout lines for separated bike lanes along the median are visible.
- River St: It's moving along, but not a paint and post project, so it's slow.
- Mass Ave (Harvard to Porter): the median on Mass Ave has been removed to enable utility work that's a precursor to the separated bike lanes.
Click to expand...
Looks like someone might be reading archboston...! https://mass.streetsblog.org/2025/0...et-filling-in-gaps-in-cambridges-bike-network
It's nice that he went and checked many of these locations out in person! Nice write up overall.
 
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