Bluebikes, a bike-share program, may expand into a number of cities and towns outside of Boston.
Negotiations are underway to bring five Bluebikes stations to Newton, Watertown, Arlington, Chelsea and Revere. Metropolitan Area Planning Council is helping to facilitate the expansion of the program, which is operated by the ride-share company Lyft.
Lyft currently operates the Bluebikes stations in Boston, Cambridge, Somerville and Everett, according to Eric Bourassa, transportation director of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council. Everett recently signed onto the program last summer, Bourassa said.
Each municipality will have to raise $100,000 to cover the capital costs and operations; Lyft would provide an additional matching $100,000 to get the program up and running.
“It’s always a steep a cost of entry,” Bourassa said. “We’re trying to help figure this out.”
Bourassa said the Bluebikes program has proven to be a popular alternative means of transportation, particularly during the summer months. Last summer, the program saw more than 10,000 trips, and averages roughly 5,000 during the winter months, Bourassa said.
Other forms of so-called “micromobile” means of transportation have already made headway in Mass. The town of Brookline recently completed a pilot program testing the popularity of e-scooters as a means of reducing vehicle traffic.
The electronic scooters were responsible for 50,000 fewer car trips Brookline during the course of pilot, according to the results of a recent survey of participating commuters. The company overseeing the program, Lime, recently ended its three-year contract with the city of Boston, Bourassa said.
The company found that the scooters cut down on car trips by roughly one-third over the course of six months in the Greater Boston town.
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