Newton 'Leads The Way' On Bike Share: Outgoing Mayor Setti Warren

NEWTON, MA — Outgoing Mayor Setti Warren said Newton was "leading the way" with a regional effort to create a fourth generation bike share system in Newton as well as in a number of neighboring communities.

While he did not go into many details about what leading the way looked like, last October Planning Director Barney Heath told councilors that officials were in talks to bring bike share facilities and shuttle services to Newton as part of a multi-decade plan to improve transportation options and the city was hoping to bring a program to the community within the next 18 months.

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In the past six months, as the bike share industry has undergone a transformation with privately funded stationless systems entering the market and competing aggressively with older publicly funded station-based systems, the city has looked into those as well, the mayor announced.

"We are excited to explore this new efficient and cost-effective 'stationless' technology for the City of Newton as well as hybrid systems which combine the best of both types of programs," he said in his final Capital Improvement Plan speech Monday night.

Setti said the city has spoken with nearly a half-dozen stationless system companies, including some offering pedal-assist technology and expect to be able to move forward with a bike share system by next spring.

"One important element of our transportation strategy to reduce traffic congestion, increase environmental sustainability, and improve personal health of residents, is the implementation of a Bike Share Program where users are able to take a bicycle from one location and deposit that same bicycle in a different area of the city – such as at an MBTA transportation node, village center, or City park," he said.

While Newton doesn't yet have a bike sharing program in operation, neighboring Brookline is looking to expand its use of Hubway bikes, which it has used for the past several years. And Boston College in Newton started its own program last year. The plan

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