Boston Council Approves 887 New Bluebikes E-Bikes in 10-2 Vote

The Boston City Council voted 10-2 on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026, to accept a $3.25 million state grant that will pay for up to 887 new Bluebikes e-bikes and 434 spare batteries, Universal Hub reported. City officials said the purchase would raise the electric share of Boston’s bike-share fleet from about 12% to 33%.

What the Bluebikes E-Bikes Grant Pays For

The grant, Docket #1883, totals $3,250,220 and comes from the Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization’s FY26 surplus Community Connections program, awarded through the Metropolitan Area Planning Council and administered by the Boston Transportation Department, according to the committee report filed by Councilor Sharon Durkan, who chairs the Committee on Planning, Development, and Transportation. Mayor Michelle Wu sponsored the order.

The report states that the money will fund the purchase of up to 887 e-bikes and 434 spare batteries. It says the 33% target was set by the 13 municipalities in the Bluebikes system, and that each of them is receiving a grant to bring its fleet to the same share.

The city must file quarterly progress reports with MassDOT, and the contract end date is Dec. 31, 2027, according to the committee report. The report says the system operator is ready to begin deploying the e-bikes once the grant is approved.

Ridership Figures Cited by the Administration

The administration told the committee that in neighborhoods farther from downtown, such as Mattapan and southern Dorchester, e-bike trips account for more than 50% of Bluebikes trips, compared with 25% systemwide, the report states. Officials said Boston will keep the classic bikes replaced by e-bikes and either sell them to other municipalities to recover costs or place them at new stations in Boston.

The report also says added work to electrify Bluebikes stations will reduce the operating cost of swapping out depleted batteries.

How Councilors Voted and What They Said

Councilors Ed Flynn and Erin Murphy voted against accepting the grant, according to Universal Hub. Flynn said he could not support adding more e-bikes to city streets at a time when, he said, pedestrians face risks from people riding scooters and e-bikes recklessly. Murphy did not speak on her vote, Universal Hub reported.

Durkan, who described herself as a regular Bluebikes rider, said the system’s e-bikes are “the slowest class of e-bikes” and are designed to assist with pedaling rather than to operate like faster models, according to Universal Hub. She said they help riders climb steep hills such as those in Mission Hill and make longer trips.

How the Grant Fits the City’s Wider Transportation Funding

The e-bike purchase is separate from, but related to, other federal and state transportation money the city is putting to work this fall. In announcing its planned Link Bus shuttles, the City of Boston said its $21.6 million LINKUP Greater Boston award includes about $11.5 million from the Federal Highway Administration’s Congestion Relief Program for five free shuttle routes and about $10 million to expand Bluebikes and support access to e-bikes.

The Boston Report previously explained the Link Bus and street furniture plan. At the same Oct. 21 meeting, the council also voted to summon MBTA General Manager Phil Eng over the Blue Hill Avenue bus lane project. For more on how City Hall is weighing transportation revenue, see our report on Wu’s comments on congestion pricing.

What Riders Can Expect Next

With the council’s approval, the Boston Transportation Department can accept and spend the grant. The committee report did not give a date for when the new e-bikes will appear at stations or how they will be distributed among neighborhoods, and no deployment schedule had been announced as of Friday morning.

Sources

• Universal Hub: Boston to use grant to add more e-bikes to Bluebikes network
• Boston City Council Committee on Planning, Development, and Transportation: Report on Docket #1883 (PDF)
• Boston.gov: City of Boston Prepares to Launch Five Free Bus Routes Across the City
• Boston City Council: Meeting calendar and Oct. 21, 2026 agenda

Featured image: A Bluebikes station at Lansdowne in Boston, May 2026. Photo by 4300streetcar via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.