Bluebikes: Difference between revisions

On December 4, 2014, Hubway's non-management employees voted 23–8, 74%, in favor of joining [[Transport Workers Union of America]] (TWU) Local 100.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.boston.com/news/business/2014/12/05/hubway-workers-elect-to-join-transit-union/|date=December 5, 2014|first=Adam|last=Vaccaro|title=Hubway Workers Elect to Join Transit Union|work=[[The Boston Globe]]|access-date=4 October 2021}}</ref> The unionization effort came after employees of [[CitiBike]] in NYC, owned by the same parent company [[Motivate (company)|Motivate]] (formerly named [[Alta Bicycle Share]]), joined TWU Local 100 in September 2014 <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2014/10/14/hubway-should-extend-good-efforts-its-own-employees/pA8zRhKA3AI75AwcC6GWJL/story.html|title=Hubway should extend do-good efforts to its own employees |work=[[The Boston Globe]]|first=Derrick Z.|last=Jackson|date=October 14, 2014|access-date=October 4, 2021}}</ref> and was closely followed by similar efforts by employees of Alta Bicycle Share in [[Washington, D.C.]],<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/storyline/wp/2014/10/24/d-c-bikeshare-workers-look-to-unionize-and-build-a-nationwide-bikeshare-powerhouse/|title=D.C. Bikeshare workers look to unionize — and build a nationwide Bikeshare powerhouse|author=Lydia DePillis|date=24 October 2014|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=October 4, 2021}}</ref> and Chicago.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-divvy-union-1104-biz-20141103-story.html|title=Union seeks to represent Divvy workers|work=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=3 November 2014|access-date=October 4, 2021 |first=Alejandra|last=Cancino}}</ref> [[File:Hubway bike Center Drive CP jeh.jpg|thumb|PBSC Hubway bicycle, 2012.]]Full system operations for 2014 concluded on November 26, though the system expanded its winter operations. For the second year, almost all Cambridge-based stations remained open year-round, and those stations were joined by 62 Boston-based stations that remained open through December 31, 2014. Inclement weather pushed back the full system reopening until April 17, 2015, and during the 2015 season the system grew to 155 stations and over 1,500 bicycles. In 2015, regular season operations concluded on November 25, though again Hubway expanded its winter operations further,<ref>{{cite news|title=Ready To Ride: Hubway Expands Winter Operations|url=http://www.wbur.org/2015/12/03/hubway-expands-winter-operations|accessdate=3 December 2015|publisher=[[WBUR-FM]]|date=3 December 2015|first=Zeninjor|last=Enwemeka}}</ref> with 110 stations remaining open through December 7, 2015; of those, 107 stayed open through December 31; and of those, the 37 Cambridge-based stations once again remain open year-round.<ref name="Hubway Media Kit" /> In May 2017, Boston Mayor [[Marty Walsh]] announced a planned two-year expansion, adding 70 new stations and offering year-round service.<ref name="Vaccaro">{{cite news |last=Vaccaro |first=Adam |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2017/05/25/hubway-set-for-big-expansion-and-year-round-service/TIfhZ7eZmzU3OE4cDayNzL/story.html |title=Hubway set for big expansion and year-round service |work=[[The Boston Globe]] |date=2017-05-25 |access-date=2017-05-26 }}</ref>

As of 2017, Boston was ranked as the city with the fifth largest bike sharing system in the United States, after [[Citi Bike|New York City]], [[Divvy|Chicago]], [[Capital Bikeshare|Washington, D.C.]], and [[Nice Ride Minnesota|Minneapolis]]. <ref>{{cite web|last=Malouff|first=Dan|date=September 26, 2017|title=All 119 US bikeshare systems, ranked by size|url=https://ggwash.org/view/62137/all-119-us-bikeshare-systems-ranked-by-size|access-date=2021-09-30|publisher=Greater Greater Washington|website=ggwash.org|language=en}}</ref> The rankings are determined by the number of [[Transport hub|hub]]s or stations. At that time, Boston had 184 stations.

On June 4, 2019, Bluebikes set a single-day ridership record with users taking 10,035 trips, the first time the ride-share has ever exceeded the 10,000-rider mark for a single day. On September 19, 2019, Bluebikes passed 10 million total rides. Two years later on September 11th11, 2021, Bluebikes hit its highest single day record with over 18,000 rides.<ref>{{Cite tweet|title=That's right, it's another 🎉DOUBLE RECORD WEEKEND🎉|user=ridebluebikes|number=1437508779180965895|access-date=2021-09-27|language=en}}</ref>

The system uses bicycles designed and manufactured by [[Montreal]]-based [[PBSC Urban Solutions|PBSC]]. The majority of docking stations are also supplied by PBSC while the newest docking stations are designed and manufactured by [[8D Technologies]]. The platform behind the bike share system is created by 8D Technologies, who also supply the server technology for [[BIXI Montréal]], [[Citi Bike]] in New York City, [[Santander Cycles]] in London, [[Capital Bikeshare]] in Washington, DCD.C., and others.

Starting on October 5th5, 2019, [[Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts]] began to sponsor $1 single rides on weekends until the end of 2019 to help combat transportation challenges arising from [[MBTA]] shutdowns. Blue Cross has also donated $10,000 to the Bluebikes Income-Eligibility Program to increase affordability.