Boston Council Committee Advances 10-Year Blue Bikes Contract, $9 Million Safety Grant

BOSTON — June 18, 2025 — Boston's City Council planning committee heard testimony Wednesday on a proposed 10-year Blue Bikes operator contract and a $9 million federal Safe Streets grant targeting nine high-crash intersections. Committee Chair Sharon Durkan said she will seek full Council approval of the bike share contract authorization — Docket 0648 — at next week's Council meeting, before contract negotiations open in mid-July with bids due June 30. Kim Foltz, Director of Boston Bikes, told councillors the system generates roughly $8 million in annual revenue and operates without direct municipal subsidy through a revenue-sharing arrangement with its operator, currently Lyft subsidiary Motivate, whose field workers are unionized. The Safe Streets grant, authorized under Docket 0720 and described by Capital Projects Design Director Lydia Housley, totals $11 million including a $2.25 million local match, covers intersections from Andrew Square to Saratoga and Bennington streets in East Boston, and carries a construction deadline of summer 2029 — backstopped by a fully executed federal agreement signed in 2024.