Boston by Hubway public bike ride event to take place on June 28

The City of Boston Transportation Department is sponsoring a short bike ride to great public spaces to teach people how to use the Hubway bike share system to travel around the City.  Boston by Hubway will take place on Wednesday, June 28, from 6 PM to 8 PM.  The event is free of charge and open to anyone 16 years or older.  Bikes and helmets will be provided.  Registration is required at www.boston.gov/calendar/boston-hubway.

“Hubway is a terrific resource for residents and others as it offers a convenient, healthy, low-cost transportation option to get people to locations throughout the City,” said Boston Transportation Commissioner Gina N. Fiandaca.  “This ride is intended for people who know the basics of bike riding, but are interested in learning how bike share works and how it can be used to get to numerous destinations in Boston.”

Cyclists will depart from the Ruggles Hubway Station, located on Columbus Avenue at the intersection of Melnea Cass Boulevard, near the Ruggles MBTA Station on the Orange Line.  Riders should plan to meet ride leaders and instructors at that location no later than 5:45 PM.  The ride will take participants past several popular public places, such as, the Melnea Cass Recreation Center, the Roxbury YMCA, the National Center for African American Art, Franklin Park and the Southwest Corridor.  The ride will end at the Green Street MBTA Station, also on the Orange Line.  MBTA information, including bus lines that service Ruggles Station and Green Street Station, is available at www.MBTA.com .

The June 28 event is one in a series of Boston by Hubway rides that will take place in the coming months to introduce people to the City’s fun, fast and affordable public bike share system.  Each ride will start out on low-stress streets and paths to allow cyclists to become comfortable on the bikes and build skills at their own pace.  Additional rides will be held on July 13 from the Ruggles MBTA Station, and on July 18 from the Bremen Street Park in East Boston.  Additional information is available at www.boston.gov/bikes.

Boston by Hubway events are supported by Let’s Get Healthy, Boston!, a partnership of the Boston Public Health Commission and the Boston Alliance for Community Health, to make it easier for residents to make healthy choices in physical activity.  This three year initiative is funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Partnerships to Improve Community Health grant, and is working to reduce the prevalence of obesity, tobacco use and exposure, heart disease, stroke and diabetes in the City of Boston.

Hubway is the regional bike share system providing bikes in Boston, Brookline, Cambridge and Somerville.   In total, Hubway offers more than 1800 bikes at 185 stations to 14,000 members.  In 2016, the popular system recorded its 5 millionth ride.  The City of Boston runs the country’s longest-standing program to provide discounted bike share membership to low income residents of Boston.

Information on how to become a Hubway member is available at www.thehubway.com .

In May of 2015, Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh announced the largest expansion of the Hubway bike share system since it launched in Boston in 2011.  Seventy new bike stations will be added to the 127 stations currently in existence in the City of Boston within the next two years.  The expansion is in response to requests from residents who asked for more access to healthy transportation options during the Go Boston 2030 mobility plan community engagement process.  The Go Boston 2030 Vision and Action Plan is available in its entirety at www.boston.gov/transportation/go-boston-2030.