Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
menino.jpgThat's Boston Mayor Thomas Menino in the blue track suit. Photo: Boston Globe.

The AP reports that Boston is looking to launch a bike-share program -- and not the skimpy, half-hearted variety:

The city has put out a request for proposals to create a bike share program. The proposal envisions a network of 150 stations scattered across the city with 1,500 bicycles available to students, commuters and visitors with the swipe of a card.

Officials eventually hope to expand the network to 600 stations in the greater metropolitan area with 6,000 bikes.

Talk about a turnaround. Boston streets didn't even have any bike lanes until last year. But Mayor Thomas Menino has become an avid cyclist himself, and the city's first bicycle coordinator, Nicole Freedman, is not short on ideas. Good thing they're not afraid to succeed. The Boston announcement stands in marked contrast to San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom's plan for a pilot bike-share with -- count 'em -- 50 bikes.

For Boston (population ~ 600,000), a system with 1,500 bikes would merit comparison to the flagship bike-share systems in Europe. Barcelona's Bicing, for instance, launched with 3,000 bikes and about 200 stations for a city with more than twice the residents and a land area about 25 percent bigger than Boston. Bike-share is more ubiquitous in Paris, where Vélib supplies about 20,000 bicycles to a city of just over two million inhabitants. (Matthew Roth at Streetsblog SF has a great post about ideal bike-share specs, and promo site B-Cycle provides a slick way to see the optimum numbers for your hometown.)

Elsewhere in the U.S., Minneapolis plans to launch a 1,000-bike system later this year, and Denver has a 500-bike system in the works. In New York, DOT signaled its interest in launching a bike-share system last year, but nothing so specific as Boston's RFP has been released.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Universal Daylighting Has Majority Support on the City Council — Will Speaker Adams Give It a Vote?

Adrienne Adams is sitting on a landmark daylighting bill that could make every intersection safer for pedestrians.

July 9, 2025

‘Anti-Car Crusade’: Dinowitzes Slam Bronx Harlem River Greenway Bike Lane Touted by Mayor

The father-son duo are throwing a tantrum over the first leg of Mayor Adams's Harlem River Greenway.

July 8, 2025

Eyes on the Street: DOT’s ‘Broadway Vision’ Starts to Clear Up

The Department of Transportation has transformed Broadway into a new corridor for pedestrians and cyclists.

July 8, 2025

Amsterdam Leads the Way on E-Bike Regulation — Should New York Follow Suit?

The city's biking- and walking-friendly streets expose the hypocrisy harsh e-bike enforcement without better street design.

July 8, 2025

Tuesday’s Headlines: Rethinking Avenue B Edition

DOT is taking feedback on the future of Avenue B. Plus more news.

July 8, 2025
See all posts