Boston-Area Bikeshare Findings Help Identify Planning Priorities

"The Metropolitan Area Planning Council facilitated contracts between multiple Boston suburbs and Lime, a bike-sharing company, and received anonymized data on 300,000 trips as part of an agreement with the company," reports Andy Metzger. MAPC released a research brief with analysis of the 18 months of data about dockless bikeshare in the metropolitan Boston area.

"According to the data, about 18 percent of miles traveled by Lime bikers were on stretches classified as 'very high stress' – roadways where the lane configurations and traffic make them especially risky for bike-car crashes," writes Metzger. The findings also indicate that about 44 percent of Lime trips are happening on multiuse paths, and riders’ destinations include a mix of urban centers, residential areas, and transit stops.

The agency says its analysis of Lime travel data will help guide future planning efforts and development of safe infrastructure and strategies to encourage non-auto travel. "Asserting that similar data-sharing arrangements should be standard for all new mobility forms – including scooters, autonomous vehicles, and drones – MAPC plans to keep crunching the numbers," adds Metzger.