I was perusing the minutes from the Newton Bicycle Advisory Committee and came across an interesting exchange about what it would take to bring the Hubway bike sharing program to Newton. The program recently expanded to Cambridge and Somerville with limited expansion into Brookline.
Basically it’s going to take some sponsorship to get Newton on board, specifically from places like Boston College or Newton-Wellesley Hospital.
“Lois [Levin, chair of the Newton Bicycle Advisory Committee] has asked the Mayor to approach Boston College, Lasell and Newton-Wellesley Hospital to discuss sponsorship, as well as other institutions or businesses,” its says in the minutes.
It happens that while sitting at George Howell Coffee earlier this month my wife and I struck up a conversation with a family next to us. The father said that he doesn’t normally bike into work because he worries about the traffic in Brookline. Yet, he tends to use Hubway to get from building to building in the Longwood medical center.
While I’d love to see Hubway be more of a regional transit option, I wonder about its usefulness in a bedroom community like Newton. Would people supplement
Current Map of the Hubway Service
their car trips by, say, parking on one end of Needham Street and using the bike lane to do all their shopping? Or would most of the bike sit unused while some rode their own and others just jumped in cars? What trips would people eliminate by using the bikes?
I’d love to hear from Sean on this.
No matter what happens, Hubway will have plenty of time to grow before it hits the Garden City. The process is expected to take about three years. Then I’m sure there will be a debate about the safety of Hubway cyclists.
Last week I had my first opportunity to use a Hubway bike in town. The entire time I was thinking about how the T has cut back on buses and the commuter rail, this may be a viable alternative for people to get to the green line or other villages for short trips. Given the colleges and schools, this could be a great thing.
I think it’s going to be tough but maybe possible. The two problems I see:
* @Karla – “to get to the green line or other villages for short trips” – I think that’s unlikely. Most people who might be interested in that probably already have a bike at their house. The likelihood of a Hubway station being close to you house is low. Anyone who begins using the Hubway regularly in that fashion would probably quickly get their own bike.
* I’m guessing that the majority of urban Hubway users are mostly people who either take the T or drive into the city and then use Hubway for the last mile or for a trip during the day. I think for Hubway to economically work, you need to have a certain number of people picking bikes up at stations during the day. You can imagine commuters getting off the T, picking up a bike and pedaling to a Newton office park but in most cases that bike is likely to sit at the office park all day until that same commuter comes home.
* the other group of urban Hubway users I imagine are people who live in the city but don’t want to own a bicycle because its too impractical given their living space – e.g. small 3rd floor apartment, etc. We have some, but not too many people that fit the profile here in Newton.
The one set of Hubway stations that I could easily imagine would be viable would be Cleveland Circle, Boston College, Newton Center. There’s enough of a bicycle riding population in a concentrated area at BC and they make frequent trips to Newton Center and Cleveland Circle. Both trips are quick and easy bike trips and its just far enough to discourage walking for many.
@Karla – I’d love to hear what you thought of the actual bike. They look quite sturdy but also very heavy.
I love the Hubway. My wife and I use it around town in Boston. For $14 a few weekends back we used it all day (and that is $14 total for two people). Just took 30 minute trips, from South Boston, to Downtown Crossing, to North End, to Boston Common and back to South Boston. Really awesome, especially if you want to peruse the city.
I think it would be a nice luxury for newton to have in each village. I’d certainly use it. I wonder if Brookline can put extend their hubway down Commonwealth/Beacon to Newton Center and then to Newtonville.
Jerry Reilly — I’d like to introduce my Leave-a-Bike, Take-a-Bike (“Lab-Tab”) program exclusively for the Upper Falls Reilly-Greenway. I’ll be back to you as soon as I can figure out how gov’t grants work…
I think Jerry’s got it exactly right. I don’t think there’s a critical mass of users to justify Hubway in Newton. The program is meant for use in short hops for short periods of time. Maybe an extension out to B.C…? Otherwise Newton just has a lot of dispersed pockets — I think Newton CentreB.C. Law School, Needham StreetEliot & Newton Highlands MBTA stops, and Mt. Ida could be hot spots for potential traffic. But I think each is too isolated for Hubway to make sense the way it does for Boston/Cambridge/Brookline.
@ Hoss – I like it …. although Lab-Tab does sound like the name of a multi-section science notebook.
Jerry — I thought about a “Lah-Tah “program, Leave-a-Hoss, Take-a-Hoss but didn’t want to be associated w any similar Leave-a-ho program.