Harvard is developing a regional bike sharing program called Hubway to promote sustainable transportation. The program aims to expand bike infrastructure and reduce car trips through a network of solar-powered docking stations across Boston and nearby municipalities. Users can access bikes through a membership and take trips up to 30 minutes for free. The goals are to grow the system to over 400 stations and 5000 bikes to encourage cycling as mainstream transportation.

1. Harvard Transportation Case Study:
“Developing a Regional Bike Sharing Program”
New England Parking Council
4th Annual University Parking Forum
October 25th, 2012
Presented by:
John W. Nolan MS, CAPP
Managing Director of Transportation
Harvard University

3. Today’s Outline
• Bike program and goals
• Station equipment and layouts
• How to use the bike system
• Value of roadway infrastructure
• Relationship to sustainability
• Regional operational guidelines and financial models

4. So What is Bike sharing?
• It’s part of a greater policy effort to expand
efficient transportation choices.
• The program aims to reduce intra campus and
city car travel, carbon emissions and
greenhouse gases while promoting active
transportation, and providing an additional
link to the public and private transit systems.
• “Hubway” hopes to bring cycling into the
mainstream by making bike use highly visible
in the urban core, affordable, and conveniently
accessible.

5. Program Overview
Convenient
o Stations every quarter mile
o Access bikes with swipe of card
o Return bike at any kiosk
Inexpensive
o Thirty minutes free once yearly fee charged
o Daily and 3 day options available
Mainstream
o Users are residents, workers, tourists, and students
o Designed for everyday trips in any clothing, even
skirts and suits

6. Bike System Goals
• Grow to 400 stations and 5000 bicycles in
Boston and neighboring municipalities.
• Continue to expand the bike share network
beyond Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, and
Brookline
• Additional communities including Winthrop,
Newton, and Arlington to date, have shown
serious interest in participating in the program.

7. Station Features
Platform
• “Drop and Go” platform for portability.
• No construction or excavation needed.
• Aluminum. Corrosion and rust resistant.
• Real-time reporting of breakdowns.
Terminal
• 12 gauge satin coat rolled steel for rust
protection.
• Interior is 14 & 15 gauge satin coat
rolled steel.

8. Station Components
• Solar Powered
• Panel – Map/Ads
• Transaction Station
• Standard Bike Rack:
• 15 slots, 10 bikes
• Mobile & Modular Platform

9. Alternative Layouts
Standard Two Sided L-Shaped

10. On Street Installation

11. Paris France-Velib

12. “Off Street” Application

13. Bike Durability
• Reinforced aluminum
• Puncture-proof tires
• Heavy-duty rims
• Chain protector

14. More About The Bikes
• Bikes use non-standard parts and tools to deter theft.
• Incorporate pedal powered lighting systems for safety.
• Have reinforced frames to hold up to vandals.
• Bikes are fully rust-resistant.
• Bike design favors every day trips in any clothing
including suits and skirts.

15. How To Use The System
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=oCdjMpmzTuM

16. Building the Roadway Infrastructure
• Built 38 miles
of new bike
lanes over the
last 4 years

17. Building the Roadway Infrastructure
• Cycle tracks
added in a
number of
neighborhoods

18. Protected Bike and Pedestrian Lane
New York City

19. Cycle Tracks
MIT Off-Street New York City On-Street

20. Cycle Track System Concerns:
• There are safety issues at road crossings with vehicles turning
right and with driveways and cars backing out.
• Below are two examples of intersection treatments in Europe.

21. Cycling Infrastructure

22. Road Infrastructure

23. North Harvard Street-Boston

24. Metropolitan Area Planning Council
Outline
To participate in the bike share program each municipality must:
• Provide funds to both purchase the system as well as
provide funds for operations.
• Encouraged to provide the user with advertising revenue
to help cover the cost of operations.
• The municipality must be able to financially guarantee the
operations through the third year from the system
launch.
• The equipment will be owned (per FTA requirements) by
the City of Boston and the other respective municipalities
that participate.

25. Metropolitan Area Planning Council
Outline – continued
• A contract may be set up with the vendor such that
the system may be owned by the municipality up
front or at the conclusion of the contract.
• Each Municipality is highly encouraged to seek
corporate, institutional, grant, or other private or
public funding sources to sponsor stations and grow
the system.
• The City of Boston has fundraised to date $1.2 million
in corporate sponsorships, plus almost $1million in
federal and state funds.
• The bike share program has secured an additional $3
million grant from the Federal Transit Administration
that is available to the municipalities to access.

26. License Agreement
• Terms and fees
• Insurance and indemnification
• Site preparation
• Installation and removal
• Maintenance and site modification
• Surrender assignment and disputes
• Use of Name
• Signage

27. Financial Cost Model
Per Station Expenses and Revenue (10 bikes, 15-19 docks)
• Expenses
• Equipment Costs (Stations & Bikes) $43,650
• Launch fee $14,869
• Subtotal Launch Cost (Equipment plus Launch fee) $58,519
• 3 year Operations costs to municipality $38,517
• Per year Operations costs to municipality $12,839
• Subtotal 3 Year Cost (Equipment, Launch & 3 yrs ops) $97,036
• FTA funding available - applies to launch & equip only ($29,538)
• TOTAL Cost to City (3 years, non-federal source) $67,498 _
• Revenue
• 3 Year Revenue from Ridership $41,885
• Per Year Revenue from Ridership $13,962
• Per Year Revenue to City (50% of net revenue) $1,527
• 3 Year Revenue to City (50% of net revenue) $4,582

28. Harvard’s Participation
• Sponsoring twelve (12) bike stations
• Stations location at the Cambridge, Allston
and Longwood Campuses
• Part of our commitment to Sustainability
• Adds another alternative commuting choice
• Provides an additional link to other
modalities including Public Transportation

29. A Sustainable Practice
Cycling is a wonderful way to combine
Fitness, Recreation, Transportation
The mission of a bike share program is to encourage a
cultural shift for people toward increased
participation in non-carbon modes of transportation.
Hubway will provide those who do not own bicycles
with the opportunity to explore the region, connect
with the outdoors, and see how beneficial a bike can
be while rediscovering the fun of bike-riding.

30. Carbon Footprint Calculation
Line Title Notes System Wide
1 Annual Trips Taken from Alta's proposal 330,500
2 Average Miles per Trip Source: Paris Velia system research 2
3 Total Annual Miles Biked Line 1*Line 2 661,000
4 % Bike Trips that replace Car Source: DC Hubway (pilot system) survey 25%
Trips
5 Annual Vehicle Miles Line 3* Line 4 165,250
Eliminated (VME)
6 VME per 3 year sponsor term Line 5 * 3 495,750
7 Average VME per station per Line 6/61 stations 8,127
3 year sponsor term
8 Estimated VME per station at Line 7*2 students / 1 average user; Source: 16,254
Harvard, for 3 year term Alta's proposal estimates 2% of student
population will become Hubway members,
compared with 1% of regular population.
9 Total TONS GHG eliminated Line 8 * 1 ton/1,120 VME (average US car 29
per station, per sponsor efficiency) * 2/1 GHG conversion factor for
term. short trips less than 2 miles due to vehicle
inefficiency on short trips

31. Cost to Harvard - Boston Model
• The cost of sponsorship is $50,000 per
station for 3 years and includes equipment,
start-up & operating expenses. The City of
Boston has offered the following financing
plan:
• $15,000 FY11
• $15,000 FY12
• $20,000 FY13

32. Cost to Harvard - Cambridge Model
• The cost of sponsorship is $50,000 per station for 3 years paid up front
• Harvard’s Office for Sustainability has agreed to allow the utilization of its
Green Campus Loan Fund to finance the sponsorship fee of $50,000 for the 4
stations in Cambridge, or a total funding of $200,000.
• $17, 667 per year, including an annual 3% administrative fee.
• Potential sponsors will complete the loan fund application
• The total amount of $200,000 for the 4 stations will be guaranteed by
Transportation Services which will take the lead in identifying and marketing
the Program to potential University sponsors with the assistance of OFS and
other Campus Services units as needed.

33. Goal Alignment
“Over the past four years we have taken great strides
toward making Boston a city that welcomes and
encourages bicycling, but this innovative bike share
system may be the most significant step yet, …we have
worked tirelessly to build the infrastructure necessary to
support such a system and we are confident that there is
no better time to make “Hubway” a reality. I want to
thank Harvard University for its tremendous support of
this endeavor.”….. Mayor Thomas M. Menino

34. Current Program Updates - Boston
• Over 600,000 Registered Trips to date
• Public Transit Integration… the North/South rail link in downtown
Boston is being fixed by bicycles. Thousands of trips each month
travel between those transit notes to employment centers of the
financial district and the Innovation District
• The City has distributed over 500 subsidized memberships at the
cost of $5 each and worked to place stations and provide
programming in low-income neighborhoods in Boston.

35. Current Program Updates - Cambridge
• Cambridge has 20 stations installed since
August
• Two of the stations are among the top ten
busiest in the entire system: Mass
Ave./Amherst (MIT) and Mass. Ave./Dunster
(Harvard Square)
• In the two months since the Cambridge
launch, resident memberships have increased
250%

36. The New “Hubway”

37. QUESTIONS??

38. About the Stations
The Stations:
• Are fully mobile, modular, and solar
powered.
• Easy to install by mobile transit teams
• Can increase or decrease in size based on
demand and removal takes less than one
hour.
• The system will be operated throughout 9
months of the year (March-November).

39. The Bike Sharing Program
• Brings cycling into the transit
mainstream by making using the bicycle
as a highly visible transportation mode
in the urban core
• Introduces a lower priced mode of
Public Transportation
• After the cost of an initial permit allows

40. Anti-Theft Components
Anti-tamper components / Durable
aluminum alloy
Anti-theft locking mechanism / Non-standard
tools required

42. First Year Implementation Goal
• 85 stations
• 1,000 bikes
• 2,319 daily bike trips
• 11,225 annual subscribers
• 31,800 annual occasional
users
• 635,095 annual bike trips
• 1,905,300 million miles
ridden annually