Massachusetts Makes the Case for State Funding

Recognizing the need for increased state involvement in micromobility, Massachusetts conducted a thorough statewide policy review. The Commonwealth convened a formal commission to examine how micromobility devices of all kinds should be classified, regulated, and funded, and to make the case for treating shared systems as public transportation.

The state has a strong foundation of successful shared micromobility systems that helped inform this commission. The Bluebikes system, the largest system in Massachusetts, operating in 13 municipalities around Metro Boston, logged more than 4.7 million trips in 2024, more than double its 2020 ridership, with its most popular stations clustered around public transportation hubs. The other large shared micromobility system in the state, ValleyBike in the Pioneer Valley, grew from under 80,000 trips in 2019 to over 116,000 in 2022. Both are publicly owned, docked systems, which shapes how the state thinks about their long-term sustainability.

In November 2024, the state legislature created the Special Commission on Micromobility, which sought to tackle regulations around individual use of micromobility devices as well as make recommendations around shared micromobility. The Commission first convened in April 2025 and met five times through the end of the year, with 15 members including secretariats, policy makers, public safety officers, advocates, and innovators. The final report was filed with the Massachusetts Legislature in February 2026. 

The report covers recommendations for all micromobility devices, like speed tier classifications, sidewalk rules, and education campaigns, as well as recommendations focused specifically on shared micromobility and what it will take to grow bikeshare in Massachusetts. Among its sixteen recommendations, the commission calls for a micromobility integration plan for the MBTA and other regional transit authorities, increased appropriations for the Complete Streets Funding Program and the Shared Streets & Spaces Program, and an expanded statewide e-bike rebate program. 

After looking at the two largest systems in the state, the commission concluded that while several federal programs could help with capital investments, there was a clear lack of funding opportunities to support operating capacity. It proposes expanding Massachusetts’ existing Last Mile Grant program to explicitly include municipally owned bikeshare systems, or creating a dedicated companion program for publicly owned shared micromobility. The commission envisions formula-based operating support to give existing municipal and regional systems predictable annual funding, combined with competitive capital grants for system expansion. The goal is to move away from ad hoc sponsorship models and toward the kind of stable, transparent public investment that bus and rail receive.

Massachusetts’ well-researched legislative commission determined that shared micromobility merits state level investment, so that existing systems, as well as systems beyond the Boston core, can also thrive.