Hubway Coming to Brookline, Expected in Early Summer

More cyclists from Brookline may soon be heading out to Somerville, Cambridge, and parts of Boston, as the Hubway bike sharing system comes to Brookline. 

The Board of Selectmen voted approval of a contract with Alta Bikeshare, the company that runs . The system allows users to rent bikes from standing stations, ride them, and return them to any of the Hubway stations in the network. The contract has been approved pending final review from Town Counsel.

As it will take up to 16 weeks to order the bikes and stations for the town, it is expected to hit Brookline until the early summer, a memo from Planning and Community Development Director Jeff Levine noted.

Levine went on to explain that the cost of the contract has actually decreased since December, . Between decreasing the order by one bike per station, and a slight change in how Alta bills stations the contract is $28,000 less than originally expected.

Partners HealthCare also added a $25,000 donation. All told, the contract comes to about $360,000 coming from the Federal Transit Administration, Metropolitan Area Planning Council and the Hubway Gift Account. 

Levine also noted that approving this contract tonight puts Brookline ahead of Cambridge and Somerville, who are expected to sign their contracts sometime next week.