Written by Boston Biker on Apr 21

Seems I called it yesterday when I postulated that the city was going to be launching its bike share program today at its cryptic meeting.

Boston officials said the system, to be called Hubway, will open in July with 600 bicycles and 61 stations in the city, though they envision growing in a few years to as many as 5,000 bikes at more than 300 kiosks, from Brookline to Somerville.(via)

This has been in the works forever, and I am glad they finally have locked down a vendor and a date. If you want your head to explode check out the comment section for the Boston Globe (via link above). You can see my impressions of the DC bike share, which I got the chance to take a look at here.

A lot of people feel like this is going to result in blood filling the streets, but anyone who rides in Boston on a regular basis will tell you that the biking is easiest when their are other cyclists around. More cyclists = more safety, not the other way around.

I am going to go out of my way to smile and wave to every single person I see on one of these bikes. I am going to go out of my way to give them tips for riding, to help them navigate, just in general be super helpful and nice to anyone on a bike share bike.

The reason, I think this is the perfect gateway drug to people trying cycling for the first time, and the more cyclists we have the better. I encourage you all to do the same. Every person on a bike is one less person in a car. We’re here, we’re geared, get used to it!

Tags: announcement Posted in advocacy