Blue Bikes, Shuttle To Wells Avenue To Come To Newton

NEWTON, MA — Where one bike share leaves, another one and a shuttle enters to fill its place. MassDOT awarded Newton two grants that will allow the city to pilot a "first mile, last mile" shuttle to and from the Wells Avenue area and to bring the Bluebikes bike share network to Newton, the city announced Friday.

MassDOT awarded Newton $250,000 to start a shuttle system between Newtonville, Needham Heights and Newton Highlands and the Wells Avenue business district area, which includes the Mount Ida Campus of UMass Amherst.

"We hope that the service will allow many of the 7,000 employees who live in proximity to these MBTA lines and work or go to school in the Wells Avenue area will take advantage of this option for using public transportation to commute," Mayor Ruthanne Fuller said in a statement.

The next step is to find a company to operate the shuttle. If all goes well, a shuttle could be on the road by the fall.

As for what's next with bike share in Newton after Lime Bikes announced they'd pull out from the area? Newton was one of three municipalities to get awarded money to go toward inviting the Bluebikes bike share program to the city.

Bluebikes will replace Lime Bikes, the dockless bike share that had operated in Newton. Bluebikes uses a “dock” system in which bikes are picked up and returned to specific locations – or docks.

Newton’s share of the grant is $80,000 which we will match with $20,000 of City funding. Newton plans to add five docking stations at various locations in the city.

Previously:

Lime To Pull Bikes From Newton