Bluebikes

Bluebikes
Bluebikes at Ruggles station, 2019
Bluebikes at Ruggles station, 2019
Overview
OwnerThe municipalities of Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, Everett, and Somerville, Newton, Arlington, Chelsea, Watertown, and Salem in Massachusetts
LocaleGreater Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Transit typeBicycle-sharing system
Number of stations480 (2023)[1]
Annual ridership3,686,979 (2023)[1]
Websitebluebikes.com
Operation
Began operationJuly 28, 2011; 13 years ago (2011-07-28)
Operator(s)Motivate
Number of vehicles5,300+ (2023)[1]

Bluebikes, originally Hubway, is a bicycle sharing system in the Boston metropolitan area. As of 2023, the system had deployed 480 stations with a fleet of over 5,300 bikes in the 10 municipalities it served. Bluebikes is operated by Motivate and uses technology provided by 8D Technologies and PBSC Urban Solutions for equipment. The bike share program officially launched in Boston as Hubway. From 2012 to 2021, neighboring municipalities of Brookline, Cambridge, Somerville, Everett, Newton, Arlington, Chelsea, Watertown, and Salem joined the system. By 2020, total annual members neared 23,000, and as of 2021, 14 million total rides have been taken.[2]

In March 2018, the municipal owners announced a six-year marketing deal with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts and relaunched under the name of Bluebikes.[3] The name change took effect on May 9, 2018, with the release of the newly re-branded blue bicycles.[4]

Users can rent out a Bluebike with the Bluebikes app or directly at the station's kiosk. Passes for purchase vary on length and cost, but income and non-income based subsidies are available.

  1. ^ a b c "System Data". Blue Bikes. Retrieved October 1, 2024.
  2. ^ Getting Around Cambridge, City of Cambridge, 2019
  3. ^ Enwemeka, Zeninjor. "Hubway Will Become Blue Bikes, And The Fleet Will Grow". WBUR-FM. Archived from the original on March 7, 2018. Retrieved March 7, 2018.
  4. ^ Fisher, Jenna (May 18, 2018). "Hubway Trades Green For Blue Bikes Starting Today". Retrieved May 9, 2018.