Council votes 10-2 to take $3.25 million grant for 887 Bluebikes e-bikes

Boston's Bluebikes system is about to get a lot more electric. On Oct. 21 the City Council voted 10-2 to let the city accept a $3,250,220 regional grant to buy new e-bikes and spare batteries for the bike-share network. Universal Hub reported the vote the next day.

If you use Bluebikes, the practical change is easier odds of finding a pedal-assist bike at your dock. The money comes from the Boston MPO Surplus FY26 Community Connections Grant Program, awarded through the Metropolitan Area Planning Council and run by the Boston Transportation Department, according to the order.

How each councilor voted

The council's record for docket 1883 shows:

• Yes (10): Liz Breadon, Gabriela Coletta Zapata, Miniard Culpepper, Sharon Durkan, John FitzGerald, Ruthzee Louijeune, Julia Mejia, Enrique Pepén, Henry Santana and Benjamin Jacob Weber.
• No (2): Ed Flynn and Erin Murphy.
• Not present (1): Brian Worrell.

The order was filed Oct. 1, sent to the Planning, Development and Transportation Committee on Oct. 7, and came back with a recommendation to pass two weeks later.

What the committee was told

Durkan, who chairs the committee, gave the report (watch at 37:41). She said the grant would buy 887 e-bikes and 434 spare batteries. E-bikes make up about 12% of Boston's fleet now, she said, and the grant would let the city raise that to as much as 33%, a share agreed on by the 13 cities and towns in the regional system, each of which is getting a similar grant (38:12).

She said city figures show e-bikes account for more than half of trips in neighborhoods farther from downtown, such as Mattapan and southern Dorchester, compared with about a quarter systemwide (38:42). The classic bikes being replaced will either be sold to other communities to recover cost or used at new Boston stations, and electrifying stations is expected to cut the cost of swapping batteries, she said (39:44). The city must send quarterly reports to MassDOT, and the project end date is Dec. 31, 2027 (40:15).

Why two councilors voted no

Flynn said he has spent years working on e-bike rules and pedestrian safety (41:16). He questioned whether adding several hundred more e-bikes is the answer to what he called a public safety crisis on Boston streets, and said the batteries deserve more scrutiny before the city backs a multimillion-dollar purchase (42:19). Murphy did not speak on the item.

A colleague who spoke next drew a line between Bluebikes e-bikes and faster mopeds and scooters, saying the bike-share models are the slowest class of e-bike and are pedal-assist only, and said the State House needs to act on clearer classification rules (42:49).

The bigger Bluebikes picture

The council has handled several bike-share items this year. In June it took up a new revolving fund for the bike-share program, to be paid for by user revenue, according to the meeting record (June 10 meeting). The Boston Globe reported in April that the system was expanding under a new five-year contract with slightly higher prices and more e-bikes. Flynn's separate work on e-bike rules came up at a Feb. 11 meeting, where he discussed state classes of electric bicycles.

What's next

Durkan said the operator is ready to start putting the new bikes on the street as soon as the grant is approved. The grant period runs through the end of 2027. Bluebikes riders should start to see more e-bikes at docks as they arrive; the city's quarterly reports to MassDOT will track progress.