Boston’s bike share program, which is shutting down for the winter as of December 1, has recorded more than 140,000 trips in its first four months of operation. Membership levels are outpacing targets. And when Hubway returns next spring, the city plans to add more bike share stations and expand into neighboring Brookline, Cambridge and Somerville.
Nicole Freedman, director of bicycle operations for the City of Boston, said the program had been a success.
“We were thinking that by the end of the full twelve months, we’d have four thousand (members),” she said. “So we’re definitely ahead of our expectations” (with 3,629 members in the first four months.)
The city has some preliminary data about just who is using the system (taken from an online survey that users fill out when they register):
- 62% of annual members live in Boston; the remainder live in neighboring towns and cities
- The average trip length is about 1.13 miles
- 70% of Hubway users are male; 30% female
- 40% of Hubway users are between 20 and 29 years old
- The most popular station is located at the Boston Public Library
- 36% of Hubway users have a household income of over $150,000; 20% earn $100,000 to $149,000; 21% earn $50,000 to $100,000, and 10% earn $20,000 to $49,000
Freedman said the city is working with the Boston Public Health Commission, as well as local non-profits, to reach out to low-income residents. The city has funding for 600 subsidized annual memberships.
Read the entire article at: Transportation Nation
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