Just a reminder- if you've been thinking of buying a Hubway annual membership, today is the last day to get the reduced $60 annual rate. I'm sort of shocked at how much I've used it, being a regular commuter with my own bike.
I've used it to rent a bike to bring a friend along, on days when it was pouring in the morning but nice at night, on days when I just didn't feel up to riding the whole way in, or when my bike wasn't available for some reason.
I know that they'll be going away in November sometime, but the annual membership will be great to have in the spring when they bring them back out, including on the other side of the river! I definitely feel that I've gotten my money's worth, even in a couple of weeks, and having an unlimited annual membership makes me a lot more likely to use it than if I had to evaluate the worth of each trip.
Hmm. I want to try the bikes just to see what they are like, but I don't want to pay $60 for a test ride. Well, maybe just to support them...
ReplyDeleteVelouria,
ReplyDeleteYou can do a 24 hour "membership" for something more like $3 and a two or three day rental for something like $5. You can take as many 30 minute trips as you like during that period for free. There are lots of times though where the incremental cost of a single ride wouldn't justify a day's membership, but it's very convenient to have it. For example on Saturday the Scientist and I were walking in the Back Bay. We had parked the car near the Public garden, then walked south, ending up dropping into the Crate and Barrel near the Pru where we bought something bulky and tough to carry back. I grabbed a Hubway at the Pru, cruised down to Boylston and Arlington, walked a block to our car, and picked him and the bulky parcel up. No, I probably would not have paid $3 to save myself the walk, but it was awfully nice to make the trip in 2 minutes instead of 10.
Oh, and the bikes are definitely nothing special, a bit shaky with a front load, and underpowered. However they're the kind of unthreatening geometry that makes one of my coworkers (who probably hasn't been on a bike in years) feel comfortable jumping on to run some drawings to the printers 10 blocks away. We got an "office membership" for just such errands.
ReplyDeleteI was going to say on your last post speculating about why there's a Hubway on Congress rather than Seaport was that I think it might be to cater to car commuters who use the discount day lots by the Courthouse and the Thomson Financial offices. The kiosk is ideally situated to serve both lots conveniently (though not quite easy for folks coming out of the Seaport silver line stop) and if I drove in from the 'burbs and walked from those lots to an office in Post Office Square, having a Hubway membership would easily save 10 minutes in each way of a 'door-to-desk' commute. But, given that I only park in those lots three or four times a year (on Fridays with weekend road trip plans); it's hardly worth the incremental $2 for an a la carte ride. Once kiosks show up in Inman and Harvard, I'll be happy to have my membership count in that 'Cambridge expansion membershp bump' ;)
ReplyDeleteI've only parked in those wasteland of lots twice, and one of the times there was actually a bike-loan program being run by the parking company. This was a couple of years ago, and it must not have worked out for them, because I've never seen it since, but it seemed like an awesome idea if you parked there every day. (I guess if you parked there every day you could just get a folder..)
ReplyDeleteI ended up not joining. Perhaps like cris if there is an expansion more my way near the the green line in newton/brookline I will. But I don't really bike much in the city cuz I'm still nervous. Plus this past monday I was in downtown crossing and was thinking about trying it to get to newbury area quickly instead of walking- but I had just done serious fall kid clothing shopping and would not have been able to carry my bag in the basket ( I had enough trouble once I got off the train back at home shoving clothes in my pannier, basket and hooking on my rack). But the 3 times a year I do a boston walk about during school hours it might be a good idea to try... except I would want to ride through the common and garden but not allowed in the garden......
ReplyDelete