On Friday, Sept. 7, a bike-sharing service called Hubway installed a station at UMass Boston across from the Campus Center. Hubway sells memberships in their bike-sharing program on their website, thehubway.com, for $85 for a year. Anybody who needs a bike right away can also rent a bike at one of their stations, located all over the city, for $5 a day or $12 for three days.

All rides that are under 30 minutes are free, and bikes can be returned to any Hubway station. For example, Hubway members at JFK/UMass Red Line stop can grab a Hubway bicycle from the Hubway station there and return it 15 minutes later on the UMass Boston campus fee of charge. They could also bike to South Bay Plaza or Boston Medical Center.

Hubway also has partnered up with the Boston Public Health Commission to offer yearly memberships for a grand total of $5, along with a free helmet, to all low-income Boston residents, which includes many students at UMass Boston. Information about this program is available on Hubway’s website.

UMass Boston students, many of whom bike to school every day, are excited to have Hubway on campus. Amanda Ward, a junior in the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, is thrilled. “I’m cursed when it comes to that shuttle bus. I don’t know why, but I always end up waiting forever. There have definitely been times I would have paid five bucks to get to a class before it was over.” Jake Colbert, a freshman computer science major, said, “It is great! It is a good idea.”