Bluebikes
Bluebikes is public transportation by bike! With more than 4,000 bikes and 400 stations, it's a fast, fun, and affordable way to get around metro Boston.
Bluebikes is jointly owned and managed by Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, Everett, and Somerville, and operates in 10 municipalities in greater Boston. Our bikes are sturdy, maintained by professional mechanics, and have adjustable seats. Since launching in 2011, residents and visitors have taken more than 18 million trips!
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Bluebikes customer service
Need help regarding a recent trip or purchase?
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Have a question about bike share planning or policies?
Contact the Boston Transportation Department: bikeshare@boston.gov
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Discount Program
People who meet our income guidelines are eligible for discounted passes.
Boston's Bike Share System
Our publicly-owned bike share system is essential to Boston’s transportation system. It is a reliable, low-cost option — and fun, too!
Boston was among the first large cities in the U.S. to commit to a bike share system. We launched with 60 stations and 600 bikes in summer 2011. Today, we own 250 stations and around 2,500 bikes. With our municipal partners, our publicly-owned bike share system offers more than 400 stations and 4,000 bikes. Our riders have taken more than 18 million trips via bike share since launch, including more than 3.8 million in 2022 alone.
We are excited to have Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts as the title sponsor of our system. In recognition of their support, our system is called Bluebikes!
The City of Boston, with our municipal partners, continue to own and co-govern the bike share system. We meet regularly to review system performance and provide guidance. The City locates Bluebikes stations in collaboration with our residents. We have more information about our bike share history:
HOW TO RIDE
FIND A BIKE:Find a station with an available bike on the Station Map. Insert your key into a dock or get a ride code from the kiosk or your Bluebikes app. When the light turns green, pull the bike out.
GET GOING:The first 45-minutes of each trip is covered by your membership. If you ride on the same bike for longer, overtime fees will apply (like late library books!). Dock your bike within 45 minutes and you will not be charged overtime fees. Riders with a discounted pass have 60 minutes to complete their trip.
RETURN THE BIKE TO A STATION:Never leave a bike unattended. Always dock your bike at a station and check for the green light before you walk away. The penalty for a lost or stolen bike is $1200. This is how much it costs for the City to buy a replacement bike.
GO AGAIN:Your membership includes as many 45-minute trips as you’d like. Ride whenever you want, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week!
Discounted Bluebikes
We offer discounted passes for income-eligible riders: $50 for an annual pass or $5 for a 30-day pass.
More stations, more bikes
In September 2022, Mayor Wu announced a 100-station expansion of the bike share system in Boston.
These new stations will fill gaps in high-demand areas, making our system more reliable for riders. We'll also add stations in neighborhoods to improve access to the system overall.
Today, more than 90% of Bostonians live within a 10-minute walk of a bike share station. We aim for a 3- to 5-minute walk in our denser residential neighborhoods. We also want to be sure all major transit stations and stops are served by bike share stations.
We will share more about our expansion plans in 2023.
Building a better bike share system
We want our system to remove the barriers to low-income residents and communities of color. We know we have to listen, elevate, and respond as we continue to build a better bike share for Boston.
Previous updates
We worked to bring service to new neighborhoods and add capacity in our existing service area, aligned with our Go Boston 2030 goals.
From 2017 to 2019, we added 75 new stations in the City of Boston. We brought bike share to new neighborhoods in Dorchester, Mattapan, Roslindale, and West Roxbury. The City of Boston now owns 230 stations and more than 2500 bikes as part of the regional system.
In 2020 and 2021, we brought bike share to Hyde Park for the first time and added stations to the network in Mattapan.
The COVID-19 pandemic changed how we travel, including on our public bike share. After record-high ridership in the first quarter of 2020, Bluebikes trips dropped sharply in April and May. By fall 2020, however, trips were up significantly. We even set a new record for total trips taken on a single day. More people chose Bluebikes for weekend rides, for seeing our parks and bike paths, and for exploring their own neighborhoods.
We hosted our first regional bike share meeting in April. Our colleagues from Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Somerville, and Watertown joined us to share information about our public bike share. We discussed the ways people used Bluebikes in 2020, including how things were different from previous years. We also answered questions from our residents.
Bluebikes resources
A fun and affordable way to get around.
The best deal for anyone who will ride on a regular basis.
Get 30 days of riding for $25 with our monthly pass.
Bluebikes is Metro Boston's public bike share program.
Find stations across the City and region.
We have answers to common questions.
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Bluebikes customer service
Need help regarding a recent trip or purchase?
-
Have a question about bike share planning or policies?
Contact the Boston Transportation Department: bikeshare@boston.gov
-
Discount Program
People who meet our income guidelines are eligible for discounted passes.
