Biking in Boston

kjdonovan said:
My b. I see there is one at Inman. I now replace that complaint with this one: Washington Square.
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http://brookline.patch.com/articles/new-hubway-stations-planned-for-brookline

Washington Square will get a station in metered parking spots along the median of Beacon St (to be installed after the Boston Marathon)
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That was written April 4, so Washington Square should be getting a station sooner rather than later.

In my mind, the biggest gap is Dorchester.

http://northendwaterfront.com/2013/04/hubway-is-back-in-the-north-end-waterfront/

Boston will add 15-20 new stations citywide, entering Jamaica Plain for the first time and adding stations in Charleston, Dorchester & Roxbury.
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We should see them up soon, and they are necessary. Kind of silly that neighborhood with the largest population is barely served. The 3 stations that I consider Dorchester are South Bay Plaza, JFK/UMASS Station, and University of Massachusetts Boston.

I'd like to see them start expanding southward more. Start with Harbor Point, Savin Hill and Uphams Corner, in my opinion.
 
Here is a map I made of Hubway stations in/around North Dorchester and a .5 mile radius around each. In my opinion, this entire area should be covered, with about ~30 stations in Dorchester and 10-15 in Roxbury.

30dl9ph.jpg
 
I dunno, they're spread too thin there as it is. Stations need to be densely clustered in order to provide redundancy. Maybe focus on a few squares, to start, and try to help make connections that the MBTA doesn't do well?

Also, what's up with the near complete lack of stations in Southie?
 
BussesAin'tTrains said:
Out of curiosity is there another, better urban bike share company they could have gone with? Or does Alta have no competition?
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Their main competitor is Bcycle, which uses a mix of local operators and themselves. Their bikes are made by Trek. Theyve had zero problems meeting their contract obligations and have better baskets. They also are introducing cargo bikes (see above). They compete for every system.

Alta is the operator that uses Bixi bikes.

Boston had three bids, the third bid were the commuter rail people (Veolia).

The company that is doing LA is completely different (Bike Nation?)

The people who do the rental strollers at mall have a few college operations.
 
NYC has already deployed 150 bike share stations, making it larger than Boston.

Hubway still hasnt managed to get out the final ten from the winter break.
 
jass said:
NYC has already deployed 150 bike share stations, making it larger than Boston.

Hubway still hasnt managed to get out the final ten from the winter break.
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You could just be making a simple observation, but if this is a comparison that is meant to make Boston look bad, couldn't we point to NY urban area having 10X the population and already missing a full year to delays? There's a lot of reasons to be envious of NY, but until they are well over a 1000 bike share stations this won't be one of them.
 
belmont square said:
You could just be making a simple observation, but if this is a comparison that is meant to make Boston look bad, couldn't we point to NY urban area having 10X the population and already missing a full year to delays? There's a lot of reasons to be envious of NY, but until they are well over a 1000 bike share stations this won't be one of them.
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The point is that they managed to install 150+ stations in a few weeks. Meanwhile, it's May and Hubway cant even finish reinstalling the stations they pulled out in December that were set to return mid-March, even though the total number is much less.

Would you be happy if you paid for an annual membership and your station was gone for 6 months with no explanation?
 
https://twitter.com/Hubway

Any news on your plans to open Andrew Square station?: "We work with the city so it all depends on when we get their approval. Unfortunately, there are permitting issues."

I wonder when the three stations affected by the bombings will reopen.

I also wonder why the Boston Medical Center station isn't open, or when it will be. Will Washington Square's new station in Brookline beat them?
 
^ As an annual pass holder who lives in porter square where there is a vacuum between harvard and davis, I care. I would like to know why it takes them so long to set up stations that they should already have, and if future expansion is going to be slowed because of a focus on other cities.
 
choo said:
^ As an annual pass holder who lives in porter square where there is a vacuum between harvard and davis, I care. I would like to know why it takes them so long to set up stations that they should already have, and if future expansion is going to be slowed because of a focus on other cities.
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Is Hubway not at all accountable? I would immediately question the value of a season pass if they aren't reliable on their mission.
 
I use Hubway because it's only $25/yr for MIT students. I have a bike, but I'm too lazy to inflate the tire and oil the chain right now...
 
aaaaaa said:
Washington Sq station is being installed, and per Hubway's twitter, the Boylston stations are scheduled for this week as well. They also said that the Porter Sq station is delayed due to the ongoing construction.

For the Hubway members out there, why have you chosen to use Hubway versus investing in your own bike? I can think of several reasons, but I'm curious to know what all of your reasons are. Thanks.
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I don't need to store the bike/lug it up multiple floors. I don't need to pay for any maintenance. I don't have to worry about locking it up on the street when I'm out (possible damage or theft). It's a perfect accessory to my commute (multi-modal, if trains/busses are messed up) for getting to/from a T station.
 
I use it because I don't necessarily want to bike to and from work, but it's great to get around town during the work day.

Also, when I do want to bike in, it's nice to not have to commit to biking home as well, or vice versa - I can bike home even if I haven't biked in. It gives me more options.
 
NEW STATION ALERT: Our Boylston St/Fairfield St Station is up and running!
 
I don't have room to store a bike. Also, one of the main attractions to living car-free is not having a vehicle "anchor" to worry about constantly. A personal bike is almost like a car in that respect. I like being independent of that responsibility, so I can move around freely without having to come back and get it later.
 
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