2019 BOSTON BIKE COUNTS
Measuring how many people are riding bikes in the City. By 2030, our goal is to increase bicycling fourfold.
We count how many people are riding bikes at locations across the City. By 2030, our goal is to increase the number of people biking fourfold. Counting helps us measure our progress.
We collect data at different times during the year. In 2019, we took counts in June and September.
We also review the number of people riding Bluebikes, the Boston Metro's regional bike share system, through daily trip data.
How we count
We use automatic counting devices that collect the number of passing bicyclists throughout the day. The devices also count the number of vehicles, and in a few locations, pedestrians too. We typically collect data over 72 hours during mid-week days (Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday
In June 2019,
we collected data at 22 locations across the City.
Browse the map to view data and download 24-hour summaries.
Weather Conditions
Tuesday, June 4, 2019: High 72°, Low 55°, Cloudy
Wednesday, June 5, 2019: High 83°, Low 61°, Cloudy
Locations with more than 1,000 people biking per day:
At 4 locations, we counted more than 1,000 people biking each day on average:
Massachusetts Avenue Bridge north of Back Street: 3,873 bikes
Commonwealth Avenue west of Silber Way: 1,309 bikes
Longwood Avenue east of Pilgrim Road: 1,291 bikes
Seaport Boulevard west of Sleeper Street: 1,132 bikes
Peak commute hour highlights
From 8 am to 10 am, people biking made up 10% or more of all vehicles traveling at 6 count locations:
- Franklin Street north of Alcott Street: 26%
- Massachusetts Avenue north of Back Street: 19%
- Longwood Avenue east of Pilgrim Road: 20%
- Columbus Avenue west of Holyoke Street: 17%
- Commonwealth Avenue west of Silber Way: 13%
- Commonwealth Avenue east of Berkeley Street: 13%
From 5 pm to 7 pm, people biking made up 10% or more of all vehicles traveling at 7 count locations:
- Franklin Street north of Alcott Street: 42%
- Massachusetts Avenue Bridge north of Back Street: 19%
- Longwood Avenue east of Pilgrim Road Avenue: 19%
- Columbus Avenue west of Holyoke Street: 16%
- Commonwealth Avenue west of Silber Way: 12%
- A Street north of Iron Street: 12%
- Seaport Boulevard west of Sleeper Street: 11%
Bluebikes ridership in June
The graph to the right shows the number of Bluebikes trips in comparison to the daily high temperature. We highlighted the dates we took counts.
In June, Bluebikes riders took on average 9,137 trips per day. On weekdays, riders took an average of 9,733 trips per day.
On June 4, the number of Bluebikes trips hit a record high of just over 10,000 in a single-day.
The number of trips continued to rise over the summer months, boosted by the expansion of new stations.
In September 2019,
we counted people biking at 66 locations across the city.
Browse the map to view data and download 24-hour summaries.
Weather Conditions
Tuesday, September 17: High 69°, Low 59°, Fair/Mostly Cloudy
Wednesday, September 18: High 69°, Low 59°, Fair/Mostly Cloudy
Locations with more than 1,000 people biking per day:
At 17 locations, we counted more than 1,000 bikes on average per day.
Massachusetts Avenue Bridge north of Back Street: 5,130 Bikes
Longfellow Bridge west of Charles Street: 3,051 Bikes
BU Bridge north of Commonwealth Avenue: 3,012 Bikes
Southwest Corridor Bicycle Path south of Heath Street: 2,414 Bikes
Commonwealth Avenue west of Silber Way: 2,166 Bikes
Charles River Dam Bridge west of Leverett Circle: 1,848 Bikes
Columbus Avenue west of Massachusetts Avenue: 1,788 Bikes
Longwood Avenue east of Pilgrim Road: 1,773 Bikes
Cambridge Street west of Staniford Street: 1,741 Bikes
North Harvard Street south of Soldiers Field Road: 1,586 Bikes
Massachusetts Avenue south of Columbus Avenue: 1,433 Bikes
Brighton Avenue east of St. Lukes Road: 1,365 Bikes
Seaport Boulevard west of Sleeper Street: 1,305 Bikes
Massachusetts Avenue south of Shawmut Avenue: 1,188 Bikes
Columbus Avenue west of Holyoke Street: 1,181 Bikes
Summer Street east of Dorchester Avenue: 1,113 Bikes
A Street north of Iron Street: 1,011 Bikes
Peak commute hour highlights:
From 8 am to 10 am, people biking made up at least 10% of all vehicles traveling at 18 locations:
Franklin Street north of Alcott Street: 152 bikes | 38 percent of all vehicles
Charles Street north of Revere Street: 301 bikes | 32 percent of all vehicles
Washington Street south of Hayward Place: 226 bikes | 26 percent of all vehicles
Columbus Avenue west of Massachusetts Avenue: 462 bikes | 25 percent of all vehicles
Massachusetts Avenue Bridge north of Back Street: 1,010 bikes | 25 percent of all vehicles
Longwood Avenue east of Pilgrim Road: 409 bikes | 24 percent of all vehicles
Longfellow Bridge west of Charles Street: 842 bikes | 23 percent of all vehicles
Columbus Avenue west of Holyoke Street: 318 | 21 percent of all vehicles
Columbus Avenue west of Arlington Street: 230 bikes | 20 percent of all vehicles
North Harvard Street south of Soldiers Field Road: 277 | 16 percent of all vehicles
Commonwealth Avenue west of Silber Way: 352 bikes | 16 percent of all vehicles
BU Bridge north of Commonwealth Avenue: 734| 16 percent of all vehicles
Commonwealth Avenue east of Berkeley St: 277 | 14 percent of all vehicles
Cambridge Street west of Staniford Street: 438 bikes | 14 percent of all vehicles
A Street north of Iron Street: 231 bikes | 12 percent of all vehicles
Brighton Avenue east of St. Lukes Road: 222 bikes | 11 percent of all vehicles
Congress Street south of Milk Street: 180 bikes | 11 percent of all vehicles
Massachusetts Avenue south of Columbus Avenue: 247 bikes | 10 percent of all vehicles
From 5 pm to 7 pm, people biking made up at least 10% of all vehicles traveling at 15 count locations:
Franklin Street north of Alcott Street: 198 bikes | 43 percent of all vehicles
Massachusetts Avenue Bridge north of Back Street: 1225 bikes | 27 percent of all vehicles
Longwood Avenue east of Pilgrim Road: 384 bikes | 23 percent of total vehicles
A Street north of Iron Street: 260 bikes | 20 percent of all vehicles
Columbus Avenue west of Arlington Street: 219 bikes | 17 percent of all vehicles
Cambridge Street west of Staniford Street: 492 bikes | 17 percent of all vehicles
BU Bridge north of Commonwealth Avenue: 711 bikes | 17 percent of all vehicles
North Harvard Street south of Soldiers Field Road: 324 bikes | 16 percent of all vehicles
Commonwealth Avenue west of Silber Way: 413 bikes | 14 percent of all vehicles
Seaport Boulevard west of Sleeper Street: 377 bikes | 12 percent of all vehicles
Washington Street south of Hayward Place: 79 bikes | 11 percent of all vehicles
Brighton Avenue east of St. Lukes Road: 300 bikes | 11 percent of all vehicles
Western Avenue east of Hague Street: 171 bikes | 11 percent of all vehicles
Summer Street east of Dorchester Avenue: 297 bikes | 10 percent of all vehicles
Charles River Dam Bridge west of Leveret Circle: 458 bikes | 10 percent of all vehicles
Bluebikes ridership in September
After the first day in June that riders took more than 10,000 trips, the daily number of Bluebikes trips continued to break records during the warmer months of 2019.
In September 2019, Bluebikes riders took on average 12,109 trips per day. On weekdays, riders took an average of 13,000 trips per day.
A major milestone for bike share in Boston
By September 20th, Bluebikes riders had taken a cumulative 10 million trips since the bike share began in the Boston Metro region in 2016. The number of trips that day also hit an all-time record of just over 14,000 trips in a single-day!
Bluebikes ridership in 2019
Beginning in Summer 2018, we added 70 new Bluebikes stations in Boston.
As a result, Bluebikes ridership grew system-wide.
Riders with annual membership passes are the most frequent riders of our system. From 2018 to 2019, the number of trips taken by members with annual passes grew from 1.2 million to 1.6 million - a 30% increase!
We also saw a notable growth in trips taken by casual and monthly pass holders from 2018 to 2019. The number of trips taken through casual (single-trip) and monthly (30-day) passes swells in the warmer months. The total number of single-trips grew by 50% from 330,000 to 500,000 trips, and monthly-pass trips nearly doubled from 207,000 to 401,000.
The graph below shows the growth of total trips by month from 2018 to 2019, by the type of pass. In September, the system hit many records - including the 10 millionth ride since 2016 and a record of 14,000 trips on September 20.
Many of the most popular stations were near transit stations.
Here is a list of the top 20 locations in the City of Boston by start and end trip.
EXPLORE THE BIKE COUNT DATABASE
View the database for bike count data from 2016 and download hour by hour summaries.
Boston Bike Counts Map
