Bluebikes
Bluebikes is public transportation by bike! With more than 4,000 bikes and 450 stations, it's a fast, fun, and affordable way to get around Metro Boston.
Bluebikes is municipally owned and jointly managed by Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, Everett, and Somerville. The system operates in 13 municipalities in Metro Boston. Our bikes are sturdy, maintained by professional mechanics, and have adjustable seats. Since launching in 2011, residents and visitors have taken more than 25 million trips!
Boston Bikes Pass
The Boston Bikes Pass is an annual Bluebikes membership that is offered only to residents who live in the City of Boston at a reduced rate. The reduced rate membership is provided by the City of Boston to make travel by bike more affordable.
City of Boston residents who have not had a Bluebikes membership in the last three years are eligible for the $60 per year membership (regular rate is $133.50 per year). Boston residents who qualify for MassHealth, SNAP, or have an income qualifying them for these or similar programs can get an even further reduced rate at $5 per year (regular Income-Eligible rate is $50/year).
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Still have questions? Contact:
Transportation
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1 City Hall Square
Room 721Boston, MA 02201-2026
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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
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, Boston owns 250 stations and around 2,500 bikes. With our municipal partners, our publicly owned bike share system offers more than 450 stations and 4,000 bikes in 13 municipalities. In 2023, we launched electric-assist bikes alongside traditional pedal bikes. Our riders have taken more than 22 million trips via bike share since launch, including more than 2.9 million in 2023 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, use the Bluebikes app to scan the QR code on the bike, or get a ride code from the kiosk. When the light turns green, pull the bike out. If you want to ride an ebike, look for the lightning bolt symbol. It indicates there is at least one charged ebike currently at the station.
GET GOING:Traditional pedal bikes (“classic bikes”):
- For annual and monthly members, 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. Dock your bike within 45 minutes and you will not be charged overtime fees. Riders with an income-eligible pass have 60 minutes to complete their trip.
- Go again! Your membership includes as many trips as you’d like. Ride whenever you want, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week! Just remember to stay within your free ride time on each trip to avoid usage fees.
- Riders with a 24-hour Adventure Pass can take trips up to 2 hours long without fees, and riders with a Single Trip pass can take trips up to 30 minutes without fees.
Ebikes:
- Annual and monthly members can ride ebikes for $0.10/minute. Income-Eligible members can ride ebikes for $0.07/minute. Ebikes are available at $0.25 per minute for non-member riders who purchase a Single Trip or Adventure Pass. All per-minute ride prices are rounded up to the nearest minute. Please note that riding an ebike will incur extra fees, regardless of your membership or pass type.
- The ebike pedal-assist technology kicks in automatically once you start pedaling. The pedal-assist will shut off once ebikes reach 18 mph. You are not allowed to ride ebikes on sidewalks in Massachusetts.
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.
remember:- Yield to pedestrians
- Stay off the sidewalk
- Obey traffic signals
- Check your speed
Review bike laws in Boston here.
Go Farther with Ebikes
In December 2023, municipal leaders in Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, Brookline, and Everett announced plans to integrate 750 next-generation ebikes into the Bluebikes system.
The new collection of ebikes is expected to grow the overall Bluebikes fleet to 5,000 bikes across 500 stations by the summer of 2024. Funding for the initial purchase of the ebikes came from a combination of municipal investment from Boston and Cambridge, state funding, and federal funding through the Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization. Learn more about ebikes in Bluebikes.
We have prioritized affordability for ebikes, which are available at $0.10 per minute for Bluebikes members and $0.07 per minute for low-income residents enrolled in Bluebikes’ Income-Eligible Program. Ebikes are available at $0.25 per minute for non-member riders who purchase a Single Trip or Adventure Pass. Learn more about discounted Bluebikes rates.
Discounted Bluebikes
Boston Bikes Pass
In October 2023, Mayor Wu announced a new pilot program to provide discounted annual memberships to residents of Boston. As part of this pilot program, residents new to Bluebikes (have not had a membership in the last three years) can get at $60/year membership. In addition, Boston residents who have an income that qualifies for MassHealth, SNAP, Pell Grants, or similar programs are eligible for $5/year membership.
Learn more about the Boston Bikes Pass
Not eligible for the Boston Bikes Pass?
You might be eligible to get a discounted pass through your employer or school!
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, nearly 90% of Boston households are 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 add more stations in neighborhoods across the city starting in Fall 2024. Learn more about our plans and how you can get involved.
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.
Station Map
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 $30.50 with our monthly pass.
Great for spontaneous, one-way trips! $2.95 for the first 30 minutes and $.25/minute after that. For an ebike you'll pay the...
Perfect for tourists, visitors, and anyone looking for a long or leisurely ride. $10 for unlimited 2 hour rides in 24 hours...
Bluebikes is Metro Boston's public bike share program.
Find stations across the City and region.
We have answers to common questions.
Learn more about ways to ride Bluebikes at a discount.
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Still have questions? Contact:
Transportation
-
-
1 City Hall Square
Room 721Boston, MA 02201-2026
-
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
