Streetfilms: Commutah Bike Pahking in Cambridge

In the greater Boston area, a secure bike parking facility has been erected at the end of the T’s Red Line in Cambridge. It boasts
one incredible amenity: it’s completely free!

Alewife Station, perfectly situated at the edge of the burbs, serves as an inter-modal link for cyclists on The Minuteman Bikeway,
one of the most popular rail trails in the US. The
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) fast-tracked the two unmanned bike cages, which hold hundreds of bicycles
in a secure, covered area, protected by high-tech surveillance. From
the crowded weekday parking action we saw — with hundreds of bikes
parked outside the cage on supplemental racks — it looks like a hit.

Also see lots of our other bike parking goodies from Berkeley’s Bikestation, BikeLink in the Bay Area, and Portland’s on-street bike parking choices.

  • jh

    It would be great if they could have bike parking near the major transit hubs, like Atlantic Station in Brooklyn.

  • Another great example of positive movement for the bicycle community!

  • Wow, gimme, gimme…

    Protected bike cages at major transit hubs like Columbus Circle, Times Square, Grand Central, Penn Station, Union Square, and Fulton Street would all be fabulous.

    I also want a mandate that all commercial parking garages include a bicycle cage (or two); it would solve so many bike parking issues instantly.

  • Doug

    I work near this station and absolutely love this bike cage. I park my bike there all the time and am especially grateful for those days when it starts raining after I’ve arrived at work. I can stay at my desk confident in the knowledge that my bike isn’t getting soaked to the bearings. I also know that it’s safe as the only other people who even go near the cage are fellow riders.

    I’m a New Yorker in Boston for a work assignment and this is one of the big things I’ll miss when I return to New York in a few months. I can imagine dozens of places where one of these could be placed with little effort. Essentially, it’s a fence with a canopy over it. Add an electronic lock and, voila, you have a very simple way to park bikes!

  • Ben

    Build it and they will come by the masses.

  • Andy B from Jersey

    This isn’t rocket science people! How much did this cost? At most $100,000? Maybe?

    With the average cost of a parking space in a structure going for $40,000 this type of project would be pocket change!

    I proposed a bikestation type facility in my hometown of New Brunswick in an empty storefront directly across from the train station. The store front has been empty for over 4 years. The bike parking currently at the station is a mob scene! Nearly 100 bikes parked to every available rack and a waiting list of many years for the 12 bike lockers.

    The local TMA loved my idea and tried to move it along. Unfortunately the powers that be, beyond the TMA just don’t get it. Instead from what I know they proposed a primitive bike room in a building that won’t be built for another 4 years; a building that will have a parking deck for over 400 cars!! (400 x $40,000 = $16,000,000!!!!)

    In the meantime the store front remains empty. The owner of the build with the empty store front? The New Brunswick Parking Authority! Clueless!

  • I love the idea behind this. I just wish it were more common. Truth be told, the one I think is truly special is that Japanese Robo bike parking thing they have at one of their train stations.

  • Doug

    The parking is free, but I bet even if there was a nominal charge — $1 or $2 — it would still be just as full.

  • jackie

    anyone know whatever happened to the “red hook bike garage and bike lane design contest”? seems to have disappeared.

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