Chris Helms
The Hubway station in front of Bank of America in Centre/South on April 9, 2014.
If you didn't like car parking spots being taken up in front of the post office by a Hubway bike station last year, you might be happy they're now taking up auto spots in front of Bank of America.
In a departure from the bike sharing service's usual policy of not consulting neighborhoods over placement of the bike-rental stations, Hubway reached out to at least two neighborhood organizations to figure out where the station should go.
In negotiations brokered by JP resident and Boston Bikes director Nicole Freedman, Centre/South Main Streets and the JP Business and Professional Assoc. picked — for now — a spot in front of Bank of America. It's a temporary placement that could be moved pending a future community meeting in May or June, said Andrew Zarro, executive director of Centre/South Main Streets.
Other Hubway stations in JP are at the Monument, Jackson Square T, Green Street T and Egleston Square.
The station replaces two car parking spots with 15 bicycle parking spots. Hubway installed the station on Monday afternoon. Wednesday it wasn't getting much use. A Bank of America security guard said he hadn't seen anyone use it from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
The spots in front of Bank of America made sense for the initial installation because the bank has its own parking behind the building, Zarro said.
A planning document for the Centre Street station weighed several possible locations, including in front of the Post Office where it was last year. Some residents had complained about that set-up. Putting the bike station in front of JP Licks was rejected because of utility conflicts, the document said. A proposal to put the station on the lawn of First Baptist was rejected by the church, according to the document. Putting the station in front of Ace Hardware was listed as an option, but with the negative of hurting loading operations for the store.
It’s $85 for a one-year membership in the bike-sharing service, though there are some discounts available. Low-income riders can even get a doctor’s prescription for a $5 yearly membership.