WORK PROGRAM
exploration of bluebikes transit connections
February 15, 2024
The Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) votes to approve this work program.
Agency and Other Client Transportation Planning Studies and Technical Analyses
MBTA
Client Supervisor: Pete Robie
Principal: Rounaq Basu
Manager: Tanner Bonner
MassDOT-Directed PL Funds
Schedule and budget details are shown in Exhibits 1 and 2, respectively.
This studyis supported in full with non-MPO funding. Committing MPO staff to this project will not impinge on the quality or timeliness of MPO-funded work.
Bluebikes, the Boston region’s public bikeshare system, has seen a dramatic increase in ridership in recent years. Total annual trips more than doubled between 2013 and 2020, alongside a roughly threefold increase in bike fleet size and docking stations. Bluebikes continues to expand and recently introduced electric bikes to the system. As Bluebikes serve an ever-increasing number of the region’s trips, planners need to be equipped with robust data analyses to consider the differing purposes of travel and travel patterns of Bluebikes users.
Bikeshare programs have been widely recognized as an effective solution for providing first- and last-mile connections, increasing system connectivity, decreasing travel times, and encouraging mode shift from cars to transit. Despite readily available ridership and survey data, there has not yet been a thorough investigation of how Bluebikes can provide connections to public transit. Such an exploration, with an eye towards targeted expansions of Bluebikes with the goal of increasing connections to transit stops and stations, could lead to an increase in both Bluebikes and MBTA ridership by encouraging mode shift. Additionally, highlighting the potential expansion of stations that could serve as first- and last-mile connections could drive continued investments in bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure projects to improve system connectivity.
Central Transportation Planning Staff (CTPS) is conducting other work and programs related to this subject, including a Bluebikes fare equity analysis and demographic survey, development of a Baseline Equity Metrics dashboard, and the Boston Region MPO’s Bicycle and Pedestrian program.
This work will leverage available trip and survey data to identify existing Bluebikes trip flows of users making first- and last-mile connections. Additionally, CTPS will identify potential future Bluebikes locations that best serve first- and last-mile connections with an emphasis on impacts for environmental justice communities.
This study will investigate the current use of Bluebikes for making first- and last-mile connections to transit. MPO staff will draw insights from Bluebikes trip data, the MBTA Systemwide Passenger Survey, and potentially the CTPS 2023 Bluebikes Demographic Survey. Additionally, this work will use demographic data and state-of-the-art analysis tools such as Conveyal to highlight where future Bluebikes investments could have the greatest potential to connect users to transit. This study will culminate in a technical memorandum describing analytical results, including a brief literature review and description of the methodology.
CTPS will explore previous and existing efforts that have utilized bikeshare planning to serve first- and last-mile connections. CTPS will also investigate any published methodologies and analyses that leverage similar data to explore trip patterns between bikeshare and transit, and that estimate future demand for such trips upon system expansion.
A literature review to be included in the technical memorandum
CTPS will synthesize available trip and survey data from Bluebikes and the MBTA to identify the prevalence of bike-trip patterns by users making first- and last-mile transit connections and investigate the characteristics of such trips.
CTPS will explore Bluebikes and MBTA data to identify information available for analysis and limitations that affect methodology choice. Data cleaning to support quality control will be conducted before performing the analysis.
Informed by findings from the literature review and data preparation, CTPS will detail a methodology to explore existing first- and last-mile trip patterns and the characteristics of such trips. Methodology details will include assumptions of what constitutes a first- and last-mile trip pattern in the data, the conflation of Bluebikes data with MBTA survey data, the geographic extent of analysis, and a timeframe within the data to analyze.
CTPS will follow the formulated methodology to perform the analysis and synthesize results.
A robust methodology that analyzes first- and last-mile trip patterns
Initial results showing corridors and transit stations and stops where transit passengers are using Bluebikes for existing first- and last-mile trips to and from transit services (to be described in the technical memorandum)
CTPS will conduct Conveyal access analyses to leverage insights from trip and survey data and explore the potential of future Bluebikes system expansions to serve first- and last-mile connections. These analyses will be synthesized with demographic data to emphasize potential impact on environmental justice communities.
CTPS will decide on analysis parameters to run with Conveyal to model destination access via bikeshare (including both traditional bikes and electric bikes) and transit as an integrated mode of transportation. During this phase, staff will consult with the Conveyal support team to explore methodologies and obtain data pertaining to the level of traffic stress (LTS) across the transportation network as necessary. Staff will also decide on any destination types to include in the access analyses and candidate locations throughout the Boston region to model future bikeshare expansion.
Staff will follow the formulated methodology to perform the analysis and synthesize results.
A robust methodology that analyzes changes in destination access for demographic groups that would occur as a result of potential future Bluebikes expansion at candidate locations, and initial results to share with stakeholders
Work performed during the study will culminate in a technical memorandum, including the literature review, methodology, and initial results from the analyses performed. The memorandum will describe previous and existing efforts nationwide that target bikeshare investment to serve first- and last-mile connections, existing trip patterns of first- and last-mile connections, and the potential impact to users’ access to first- and last-mile connections from future bikeshare investment at candidate locations.
Internal technical documentation and a technical memorandum detailing the literature review, methodology, and initial results from the analyses performed
|
Task |
Month | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | |
|
1.
Literature Review
|
From Month 1, Week 1 to Month 2, Week 3.
Deliverable
A
Delivered by Month 2, Week 3.
|
||||||
|
2.
Trip and Survey Data Analysis
|
From Month 1, Week 4 to Month 4, Week 4.
|
||||||
|
3.
Accessibility Analysis
|
From Month 3, Week 4 to Month 6, Week 2.
|
||||||
|
4.
Document and Communicate Results
|
From Month 1, Week 4 to Month 7, Week 4.
Deliverable
B
Delivered by Month 7, Week 3.
|
||||||
|
Task |
Person-Weeks by Pay Grade |
Direct
Salary |
Overhead
(120.3%) |
Total
Cost |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G-9 | G-8 | G-7 | G-6 | Total | ||||
|
1.
Literature Review
|
0.0 | 0.2 | 1.8 | 1.5 | 3.5 | $5,537 | $6,660 | $12,197 |
|
2.
Trip and Survey Data Analysis
|
0.0 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 4.2 | 5.8 | $8,624 | $10,374 | $18,998 |
|
3.
Accessibility Analysis
|
0.0 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 4.0 | 5.5 | $8,282 | $9,963 | $18,245 |
|
4.
Document and Communicate Results
|
0.1 | 0.3 | 1.1 | 3.1 | 4.7 | $7,245 | $8,716 | $15,961 |
|
Total
|
0.1 | 1.1 | 5.3 | 12.8 | 19.4 | $29,687 | $35,713 | $65,401 |
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