The newest bike-share station in Medford has eleven docks and sits at 490 Boston Ave, a short walk from the Medford/Tufts Green Line platform. The City of Medford set its installation for Friday, October 16, 2026, and expected it to be running by late afternoon. As of October 19, Bluebikes' public station information feed listed the station as "490 Boston Ave" with a capacity of 11. The matching status feed showed it installed, renting and accepting returns, with five bikes available.
It's the first new station the city has announced since its summer 2024 expansion, and the city describes it as the first of three around the Tufts end of Boston Avenue. One Bluebikes station is also part of a Tufts construction project with an estimated completion of August 2027.
Fifteen stations on the city's list since the summer of 2024
Medford joined Bluebikes in October 2022, and Patch covered the launch at the time. The last expansion the city announced before this one came in summer 2024, when it added four new stations at Carr Park, Medford High School on Steve Miller Drive at Winthrop Street, Governors Avenue at Lawrence Road, and Winthrop Circle. That brought the city to 15.
As of this week, the city's transportation page still lists those 15 as "Medford's 15 Current Stations":
- Auburn Street at Mystic River
- Hormel Stadium
- Harris Park
- Haines Square
- Hickey Park
- Logan Park
- Main Street at Brooks Park
- Medford Square, opposite Riverside Plaza
- Tufts Square
- Wellington MBTA Station
- West Medford
- Medford High School
- Carr Park
- Winthrop Circle
- Governors Ave. at Lawrence Rd.
490 Boston Ave isn't on the list yet, though the live feed already shows it renting bikes. The bottom of the same city page still says Tufts University "plans to add two stations near campus and the MBTA Green Line in early 2024." That date passed more than two and a half years ago.
The station names can also differ between sources. The city lists "Tufts Square," while the Bluebikes feed calls the same stop "Tufts Sq - Main St at Medford St." If you're checking a station before you leave the house, the Bluebikes app or feed shows what actually exists today.
Fifteen on the list, eighteen in the 2024 announcement
Medford's expansion plans have been described in more than one way. In August 2024, the city announced a $250,000 state grant to maintain and expand the Bluebike network. That announcement said the money would support three more stations and bring Medford to 18. The transportation page describes it differently. It calls the grant a MassDOT Shared Streets and Spaces award for "BlueBike Operating and Maintenance Fees as well as one additional station."
The two descriptions likely reflect different stages of the same plan, and neither one establishes a current total of 18. The city's list shows 15, and 490 Boston Ave has been live in the Bluebikes feed since October 16.
The city also presented the new dock as a start. The city's October 8 announcement called 490 Boston Ave "the first of three Bluebike stations planned near the MBTA Medford/Tufts Green Line station and the Tufts University campus," and said the goal was first- and last-mile connections to transit. Gotta Know Medford reported the installation date in its October 13 morning roundup. Neither the city nor the local coverage has named sites or dates for the other two.
A Bluebikes station in a Tufts dorm project
One Bluebikes station is already part of a published project on Boston Avenue. Tufts' capital projects page for the 401–403 Boston Avenue student residence lists installation of a Bluebikes station in the project scope. The page gives the project's estimated completion as August 2027. It doesn't say when the station itself goes in, what it will be called, or whether it is one of the two remaining stations in the city's plan of three.
Here's the Boston Avenue build-out in order:
- October 2022. Medford joins Bluebikes.
- Early 2024. The date the city's page gave for two Tufts-area stations, which didn't arrive then.
- Summer 2024. Four stations elsewhere in the city bring the total to 15.
- October 16, 2026. 490 Boston Ave goes in, described as the first of three near Medford/Tufts.
- By August 2027. Estimated completion of Tufts' 401–403 Boston Avenue residence, which includes a Bluebikes station in its scope.
The city hasn't published locations for the other two stations in the Medford/Tufts group.
What a ride costs right now
For a short trip from Boston Avenue to the Green Line or into Tufts Square, the pricing below applies.
| Option | Price listed by Bluebikes | Fine print |
|---|---|---|
| Single trip | $3 | Covers up to 30 minutes; classic-bike rides beyond that add $0.33 per minute |
| Annual membership | $133.50 per year | Billed annually |
| Income-eligible membership | $50 per year or $5 every 30 days | Eligibility through listed assistance programs or qualifying income |
At those prices, 45 single trips a year cost $135, slightly more than the $133.50 annual membership. If you ride roughly once a week, the membership pays for itself. The city's page also notes that some employers, schools and community organizations offer discounted memberships. The full terms are on Bluebikes' pricing page and its income-eligible program page.
Heading into winter
The new station opened just as the season turns, so it's fair to ask whether it will stay through the cold months. Bluebikes runs through winter but takes some stations out for the season and brings them back in spring. Its spring 2026 redeployment schedule, last updated April 23, 2026, lists stations returning from "winter hibernation" in weekly batches from late March into late April. Names on that list include Piers Park, Uphams Corner, Somerville Hospital and Morton St T.
No Medford station appeared on that list last spring. That covers only the winter of 2025–26, and Bluebikes hasn't published a list for the coming winter. Until it does, the live station status in the app is the best way to check before you walk to a dock in January.
Where a Boston Ave bike can take you
The city's transportation page describes the George Street bike lane as the first segment of a planned link between Medford/Tufts and Medford Square. The same page also says College Avenue and Main Street lanes were to be added in spring 2024 and hasn't updated that status since. On the west side, the city says the Winthrop Street bike lanes connect to Medford High School, Victory Park and the western edge of the Fells, and run south toward the Mystic River parks and paths. Two of the summer 2024 stations, Medford High School and Winthrop Circle, sit along that route.
Along the river, the Mystic River Watershed Association treats the Mystic River Greenway as part of a regional walking, biking and rolling network and lists the Clippership Connector among its Medford projects. When the city announced the Clippership groundbreaking in 2023, it described a half-mile path between Clippership Drive and Riverbend Park meant to link more than 10 miles of greenways.
The longest wait is in South Medford. MassDOT's South Medford Connector project, meant to link two existing DCR paths, was at the 25% design stage as of January 22, 2026, and its listed construction start is spring 2029. Closer to Wellington, the city scheduled a virtual 25% design hearing for October 22 on the Wellington Greenway. That proposal is a 1,700-foot, 10-foot-wide shared-use path linking existing segments between Wellington Station and Revere Beach Parkway, still in design with no construction schedule. The Wellington MBTA Station dock is already on Medford's list.
If you're weighing how Green Line access, bike lanes and stations like the one at 490 Boston Ave fit into daily life on different Medford streets, I'm always glad to talk it through. Kelly Batti knows these blocks well. Let's Connect.
