Overview of Transportation in Cambridge

Transportation is a significant element of what makes Cambridge the vibrant, lively city it is; residents, businesses, and visitors alike enjoy the walkability, convenience, and healthy lifestyle available here.There are more transportation options than ever before and more people are opting to walk, bike, and take transit.

Cambridge has been named the most walkable city in the U.S. Walk Score went as far as recognizing Cambridge as a “Walker’s Paradise” and a “Biker’s Paradise” with the highest scores for each category in Massachusetts. According to PeopleforBikes’ latest ratings, Cambridge ranked #2 out of 604 medium-sized U.S. cities (50K to 300K) for bicycling, behind only Davis, California.

Most of Cambridge is just a short walk from public transit, including five stations on the Red Line, the newly revamped Lechmere Green Line station, the Commuter Rail, 26 MBTA bus routes, and multiple publicly accessible shuttles. As of 2023, more than 100,000 public transit trips start and end in Cambridge each workday, including 80,000 red line trips, 3,500 green line trips, and 18,200 bus rides.

Bicycling is now seen as a fully viable mode of transportation and has experienced extreme growth. As such, the City has invested heavily in bike infrastructure, increasing the approximate mileage of bicycle facilities (e.g. bike paths, bike lanes, shared lane markings) in Cambridge from 46.92 total miles in 2004 to 105.3 total miles in 2023. Cambridge is also an owner of Bluebikes, the bike share system operating in Cambridge, Boston, Brookline, Somerville, and beyond. Launched in 2011, riders have since taken more than 23 million rides system-wide. The most popular stations are all in Cambridge, including the most popular at MIT (Mass Ave./Amherst Street).