Project background
Hubway is a public bicycle sharing system with stations throughout Boston, Cambridge, Somerville and Brookline. The system is designed to provide a convenient form of active public transportation by providing access to bicycles for short trips and improving connections to transit.
Hubway launched in Boston on July 28, 2011, with 61 stations and 600 bikes. In the first ten weeks, the system logged more than 100,000 rides. After a winter hiatus, Hubway re-launched in early spring and rolled past a quarter million rides by Memorial Day.
On August 8, 2012, Hubway officially launched in Cambridge, Somerville and Brookline, and new stations have rolled out over time. To date, there are over 190 stations across the four communities, with significant expansion planned for 2018 and beyond.
MAPC’s role
Early in the planning stages of the Hubway bike share, MAPC was approached by the City of Boston to serve as a regional coordinator for the system. Since that time, MAPC has coordinated and facilitated meetings of the communities served by Hubway and the system operator, Motivate, and has continued to lead the collective procurement process for the system.
Additionally, MAPC has developed the regional Memorandum of Agreement that determines the roles and responsibilities of the parties involved in the operations and oversight of the system, including the municipalities of Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, and Somerville, Motivate, and MAPC.
Results
Over 6.5 million trips have been taken since Hubway launched in 2011, and the system has nearly 14,000 active annual members.
Annual members frequently use Hubway for commute trips, and a large proportion of trips are taken in conjunction with transit, as Hubway provides important “first-mile/last-mile” connections. Bike share users use the Hubway system for a wide range of trips, including commuting, running errands, and tourism, making the system an integral part of the regional transportation network.
Resources
Questions?
For more information, contact Eric Bourassa at ebourassa@mapc.org or 617-933-0740.