Blue Bikes Are Coming To Mattapan, Roslindale And More Parts Of Dorchester

Blue Bikes will soon be cruising through new neighborhoods in Boston — areas advocates say have been a dead zone for docked bike share.

The system will expand to Mattapan, Roslindale and the southern part of Dorchester with 19 new stations in the coming weeks, city officials announced Thursday. Ten stations will be installed in Dorchester, five in Roslindale and four in Mattapan. (The city says it's seeking a fifth Mattapan station soon.)

Officials have previously said they plan to expand the system — which launched as Hubway in 2011 — into new communities. The current expansion will be the largest one to date for the system.

As part of the expansion, an additional 30 stations will be installed across Boston over the next few months. And 30 more stations will be installed next spring, according to the city.

"We’re just thrilled that we’re able to offer bike share to other neighborhoods in the city of Boston," Boston transportation commissioner Gina Fiandaca said.

The expansion into the southern part of Boston has been a long time coming for bike advocates, who have called for the bike share system to come into under-served communities.

"Getting this bike share system will be awesome, especially with the newly completed Neponset River Greenway trail," said Shavel'le Olivier, a bike advocate in Mattapan. "Now our residents who don't have bikes, they’ll be able to get a chance to rent bikes and use it to go on that trail. So, more biking means more physical activity and in turn means more positive health."

But Olivier, who is also a coordinator for the community organization Mattapan Food and Fitness Coalition, said there's still a need for better bike infrastructure in her neighborhood.

"There’s not a lot of painted bike lanes in the Mattapan area, which makes people feel unsafe to bike," Olivier said. "We still have to fix these other issues that the Mattapan residents are facing that hinders their ability to go out and go biking."

Fiandaca points to the city's Go Boston 2030 transportation plan and said the city is working to improve bike infrastructure and mobility in the area.

When this latest expansion of Blue Bikes is complete by the end of next year, the system — which spans Boston, Brookline, Cambridge and Somerville — will have 3,000 bikes and 300 stations.

The expansion of Blue Bikes comes as dockless bikes — like those bright green ones from Lime — are creating something of a border war as the competitor companies set up shop in several surrounding municipalities.

Fiandaca said Blue Bikes is working on a dockless bike of its own, but for now the city is focused on building out its network of docked bikes.

Blue Bikes has an exclusive bike share contract with Boston, Brookline, Cambridge and Somerville that runs through 2024.