On Monday’s Cambridge City Council agenda will be an order dating back to October that aims to make Hubway memberships more attainable for low-income residents. A report from Brian Murphy, the assistant city manager for Community Development, to City Manager Richard Rossi outlines several community outreach, public safety and subsidy programs that could make this possible.
After a series of community hearings, the City of Cambridge identified that offering more affordable Hubway memberships to those who qualify isn’t the only deterrent in getting under-represented communities to sign up for Hubway. As it turns out, perceptual issues are also at play.
In Boston, for example, six of the nine lowest utilized Hubway stations are in neighborhoods that are primarily low-income and minority people.
According to the report, Hubway plans to launch a series of new ads that depict immigrants and families using bikes for everyday transportation come spring of 2015. They’ll also be able to reproduce the ads in a number of languages to optimize their reach. Cambridge has applied for a grant to help bring this campaign into fruition, which is still pending.
A substantial component to the grant is to hire a part-time bike-share ambassador who would be tasked with encouraging people to sign up for memberships, as well as showing them how.
Further, they hope to address logistical issues that turn people off from using the service. Enforcing a $100 hold on debit cards for users “proved to be an impediment for some people and led to some unfortunate misunderstandings about the true cost of using the system,” reads the report. “This is being changed and will no longer be an issue.”
For those who qualify for city assistance, such as affordable housing, another portion grant will enable the city to offer reduced rates for members who also participate in bike education classes. This could run as low as $50.
And those who sign up for annual memberships would be allowed to pay their dues in monthly installments of $7 instead of one lump sum.
BostInno reached out to Hubway for comment but nobody was immediately available to respond.
Cambridge sustainability planner Jennifer Lawrence told BostInno that should the grant money come through and all other applicable pieces be put in place, they’ll be able to accomplish all of these goals.
“The hope is that we will be able to come through with all of the items below, though we are still waiting awaiting funding/technical information,” Lawrence said.
Hubway stations in Boston are now closed for the duration of the winter, and they’ll likely open in March or early April, depending on the weather. Cambridge stations are all open year-round.
