Biking in Boston

Here's a map (PDF) of the planned Hubway station locations in Cambridge: http://www.cambridgema.gov/CDD/Tran.../Transportation/Bike/BikeShareSites11x17.ashx. Looks like there are 22 of them on that map, so they must not have figured out a couple of them yet. Most places that aren't Harvard or one of the main squares aren't covered too well, but at least there's one near my home!

Quick screenshot of the part of the map that has any stations:
hubway_cambridge.jpg
 
I don't see any glaring omissions (except possibly Cambridgeport). Inman Square will benefit from this the most, and I also think Lechmere Station will see a boost in passengers during the Hubway months.
 
Shepard said:
I don't see any glaring omissions (except possibly Cambridgeport). Inman Square will benefit from this the most, and I also think Lechmere Station will see a boost in passengers during the Hubway months.
Click to expand...

Agreed on all points, except that the glaring omission in my mind is Alewife. I could definitely envision people parking at Alewife and biking to work from there, especially for people who live in Arlington, Lexington, etc, and work in a dense area not right next to a red line station. (i.e. the Back Bay, Fenway/Kenmore, Allston, Brighton)
 
Hubway doesn't work for the kind of peaking one-way transportation demand that a park-n-ride fulfills. There's only a couple dozen bicycles at most in one spot. It needs to be in places that have two way demand, so that some people are dropping off bicycles while others are taking them out.

Central <--> Inman is a good example. Lots of back-and-forth travel there, for all sorts of reasons. Also, Kendall <--> Lechmere or Inman, neither of which have an all-day bus connection.
 
Shepard said:
I don't see any glaring omissions (except possibly Cambridgeport). Inman Square will benefit from this the most, and I also think Lechmere Station will see a boost in passengers during the Hubway months.
Click to expand...

Id say almost all of MIT is a glaring omission, as is the hyatt by the BU bridge.

Map now shows 6 stations active in cambridge, three in harvard square, three by central.


48 docks total in Harvard square, not bad, the additional station that wasnt there when I checked yesterday makes an acceptable level of docks.

They could definitely use a couple more in Harvard proper going forward.
 
Matthew said:
Hubway doesn't work for the kind of peaking one-way transportation demand that a park-n-ride fulfills. There's only a couple dozen bicycles at most in one spot. It needs to be in places that have two way demand, so that some people are dropping off bicycles while others are taking them out.

Central <--> Inman is a good example. Lots of back-and-forth travel there, for all sorts of reasons. Also, Kendall <--> Lechmere or Inman, neither of which have an all-day bus connection.
Click to expand...

I think that's why they redistribute bikes during the day (using, ironically enough, a giant van)
 
jass said:
Id say almost all of MIT is a glaring omission
Click to expand...

If there are enough docks, I think location-wise it's sufficient the way they have one on Mass Ave and several by Kendall. Again, some more further down in Cambridgeport (or at the Hyatt, for example, as you suggest) could help.
 
bbfen said:
I think that's why they redistribute bikes during the day (using, ironically enough, a giant van)
Click to expand...

They do that, but it can only correct relatively small imbalances in multi-way use. They cannot ship bikes fast enough to satisfy peak one-way commuter demand. That's something only public transportation can handle.
 
If they put on at Mass Ave & Mellon, the Lesley kids would be all over that shit. For real. I bet a higher percentage of Lesley's student body would use this than any other college.
 
Website now showing 7 stations in Cambridge and 2 in Somerville, none in Brookline yet.
 
Map showing expansion. Is my memory off, or is the one in Harvards Boston complex not new (or did they move it)?

hubway2.jpg



Also, unlike Alta in DC, Hubway is not making much of the new stations. When DC launches a station, they show the installation, on the Hubway facebook page, its a globe article and users reporting it, no pr from the team.



And dont forget to use this amazing site to see how each stations gets used in 24 hour period.



http://bikes.oobrien.com/boston/
 
They may be waiting until expansion is more complete before publicizing it?

Cambridge, Somerville, and Brookline all have official ribbon-cutting ceremonies scheduled for this Wednesday, August 8.
 
Well, it's a start. They desperately need more redundancy though. It's not enough to put a single station in a fairly isolated spot, what if you show up on a bike and it's full? Need a mesh, so you can go to the next/prev one.

There used to be a station by Soldiers Field Road and N. Harvard, looks like that got moved.
 
Matthew said:
They desperately need more redundancy though.
Click to expand...

Agreed. There are currently 2 stations within 2 miles of Somerville City Hall Hubway station. I'm not sure where they are going, but they need to fill the Inman Square/Prospect Hill areas for it to be a success in Somerville.
 
Somerville is supposed to get 12 stations. Right now, they only have 3.
 
if you have a smartphone, download spotcycle. It's a great app that shows the current status of stations. I do it when choosing between bus or hubway, and its a good way to know how likely that situation is. highly recommended app.
 
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