3 Arlington Bluebikes Stations Will Be Removed For Winter

ARLINGTON, MA — Another Bluebikes bike share station was installed near Magnolia/Thorndike Field at the Minuteman Bikeway, bringing the total number of Arlington stops to five. The installation of a sixth station, planned in two parking spaces at Mass. Ave. and Broadway, has been postponed until the spring.

The other four stations are located at Linwood Street at Minuteman Bikeway, Mass. Ave. at Grafton Street, Broadway at Grafton Street and Railroad Lot at the Bikeway. Since the stations were installed in mid-September, there have been over 1,200 Bluebikes trips in Arlington.

Winter operations will start by Nov. 23. Three Bluebikes stations will be removed and stored for the winter: Linwood Street at Minuteman Bikeway, Mass. Ave. at Grafton Street and Broadway at Grafton Street. The Magnolia/Thorndike Field at Bikeway station will remain in place year-round, including during the winter, and be available for bike rentals.

The Railroad Lot station will move to the Town Hall Plaza if the plaza restoration project is finished before winter or be reinstalled in the spring. Bluebikes expects to reinstall the bike share stations that were stored over the winter beginning in mid-March, including the delayed stop.

These bike share stations are part of Bluebikes' summer 2020 system expansion, which connected Arlington with existing stations in Somerville, Cambridge, Brookline, Everett and Boston, as well as other new stations in Chelsea, Newton, Revere and Watertown. The Bluebikes expansion enables Arlington residents to use bike share to access other communities in the system for work and recreation.

The expansion is supported by an award of $80,000 in Workforce Transportation Grant funds from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. The grant requires a local match of $20,000, which was approved by Arlington Town Meeting on June 15. The Bluebikes expansion is also supported by Lyft, the transportation network company that manages the service. Lyft is contributing more than $100,000 in bike share equipment to each communinty participating in the program to assist with the start-up costs of the system. Blue Cross Blue Shield is a title sponsor of the Bluebikes system.

For more information about Bluebikes, visit: https://www.bluebikes.com. For more information about the Arlington expansion, please contact Daniel Amstutz, Senior Transportation Planner in Arlington’s Department of Planning & Community Development at 781-316-3093 or damstutz@town.arlington.ma.us.