By Dan Murphy
The Boston Transportation Department announced last week it would sponsor 28 community workshops citywide this fall to discuss the upcoming expansion of the bike-share program Hubway.
“BTD is excited to collaborate with residents as we expand this important and popular piece of our transportation system to additional locations in the city’s neighborhoods,” Boston Transportation Commissioner Gina N. Fiandaca said in a press release. “I encourage all Boston residents to attend a community planning workshop and help us to determine the best locations for new bike share stations in their neighborhoods.”
Over the next two years, more than 70 new bike-share stations will be added in Boston alone, with additional stations planned in Brookline, Cambridge and Somerville. BTD expects to reach new neighborhoods with bike share, including Dorchester, Roslindale, and Mattapan, and dozens of new stations and docks will also be added in Boston’s existing service area to better meet current demand. This will be the biggest expansion of the Hubway system since its launch in Boston in 2011, according to city officials.
Upcoming workshops will include Boston Center for Youth & Families Blackstone, 50 West Brookline St. in the South End, on Saturday, Sept. 16, at 10 a.m.; the Orientation Room at the Copley Branch of the Boston Public Library, 700 Boylston St. in the Back Bay, on Wednesday, Sept. 20, at 6 p.m.; the Charlestown Branch Library, 179 Main St. in Charlestown, on Thursday, Sept. 21, at 6 p.m.; Hill House, 127 Mt. Vernon St. on Beacon Hill, on Tuesday, Oct. 3, at 6 p.m.; Fenway Community Center, 1282 Boylston St. in the Fenway, on Thursday, Oct. 4, at 6 p.m.; BCYF Nazzaro, 30 North Bennet St. in the North End, on Thursday, Oct. 11, at 6 p.m.; East Boston Social Center, 68 Central Square in East Boston, on Tuesday, Oct. 24, at 6:30 p.m.; Tenants Development Corporation, 23 Wellington St., in the South End, on Wednesday, Oct. 25, at 6 p.m.; BCYF Charlestown, 255 Medford St. in Charlestown, on Saturday, Nov. 4, at 10 a.m., among other dates.
“This expansion delivers on one of the projects and policies of Go Boston 2030, bringing us one step closer to meeting Boston’s comprehensive transportation needs,” Stefanie Seskin, the city’s active transportation director, said in a press release. “Bike share is an important transportation option and one that we are working to ensure is available throughout Boston’s neighborhoods.”
Citizens are also invited to suggest locations online at www.suggest.thehubway.com. BTD will review the suggestions from public workshops and online to create draft maps of potential locations. These maps will be shared on the website and will be available for comment during public open houses in early spring of 2018. More information about the planning process is available at boston.gov/bike-share-expansion.
To learn more about the Hubway system, visit www.thehubway.com. To learn more about the Hubway system, visit www.thehubway.com.