The Swellesley Report

More than you really want to know about Wellesley, Mass.

Wellesley loves its Ubers and Lyfts: Ridesharing jumps 28% in 2018

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Ridesharing trips via Uber, Lyft and others that originate in Wellesley increased 28% in 2018 from the year before, and a combined half a million trips started or ended here. For a town jussst close enough to Boston to make ridesharing a sometimes option for trips to or from the city or airport feasible, and given the fact that we have 3 colleges in town, makes Wellesley a sweet spot for ridesharing.

This data and more is now available in the 2018 Rideshare in Massachusetts data report released by the state’s Transportation Network Company (TNC) Division. Overall, ridesharing increased 25% across the state in 2018 vs. 2017.

Rideshare Data Report Mass gov
Source: Massachusetts Transportation Network Company Division

 

The Commonwealth requires rideshare companies to share data with it. You might not realize that the companies pay a 20 cent fee per ride to the state that’s divvied up among cities and towns, the state’s transportation fund, and the poor taxi and limo industry. Wellesley snagged more than $19K from those fees from 2017, and used the monies for warning signals to improve pedestrian walkways and crossings, and provide transportation through the Council on Aging (Wellesley’s town government is looking to formalize a process for allocating such funds going forward).

Wellesley ranked 29th in origin and destination trips, and that works out to about 9 origin and destination trips per year per person in town. On average, trips from and to Wellesley are about 9 miles, a little less than twice as long as the average Massachusetts ridesharing trip. Given that, and the fact that Wellesley only spans 10 square miles, it’s not surprising that only a quarter of Wellesley’s origin and destination trips are confined within town lines.

The average miles per hour of rideshare trips in Wellesley is 26.6, above the state average of 18.6.

You can check out all of the data in the sortable spreadsheet below.

Overall,there were about 81.3 million ridesharing trips in Massachusetts in 2018, with the biggest increases in raw numbers taking place in Boston, Cambridge and Somerville. The largest percentage increases took place in smaller communities such as Provincetown (up 181%) and New Bedford (up 155%). And while ridesharing continues to flourish, note that such trips still pale in comparison to the billions of trips people take in their own vehicles.

With the MBTA jacking up commuter rail and subway fares come July 1 despite continued struggles with service performance, it’s easy to imagine even more Wellesley-ites opting for ridesharing down the road. The town has begun taking ridesharing into account too as it plans for the future. It’s mentioned in both Wellesley’s Unified Plan and the Wellesley Square Redevelopment plan.

Got thoughts on ridesharing in Wellesley? Feel free to comment on this post or email us: [email protected]

Download (XLSX, 75KB)

MORE: Where Wellesley ranks in use of Uber, other ridesharing services (based on 2017 report)

 

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Wellesley Girl Scouts spearhead accessible parking spot updates

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Raising inclusivity awareness: Girl Scouts Caroline Kane and Ellie Owens

 

Wellesley Girl Scouts Caroline Kane and Ellie Owens have made a difference at Wellesley Middle School by updating the accessible parking space with more modern icons.

“A symbol or a sign might seem like a small thing, but it sends a big message,” Owens says, referring to the more action-oriented wheelchair accessibility symbol that has begun replacing the more stationary one.

The WMS students, working to achieve the coveted Girl Scouts Silver Award, coordinated with town officials to replace outdated parking symbols on 2 spaces so far at the school.

“We chose to do this because even though it might not seem to have a big impact, for people with disabilities the old symbol could make them feel different and disrespected or unwelcome in our school,” the Troop 73505 members say. “The new symbol shows, they are on the go!”

Caroline’s mother Jenny says the project turned out to be more involved than the girls anticipated, as they needed to reach out to lots of people from school officials to those at Town Hall. The facilities team did the actual painting on the ground on Donizetti Street following a repaving project, and new metal signs are on order.

MORE: Wellesley Girl Scouts strike silver

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Cyclist struck by car on Linden Street in Wellesley

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cyclist linden
Accident scene on Linden Street (photo via KM)

 

A scary scene unfolded during rush hour on Linden Street near Weston Road on Wednesday when a cyclist was struck by a car. Wellesley emergency personnel arrived quickly (I happened to see a police car heading toward the scene, and an ambulance going away from it on my way to an event).

An initial report from Wellesley Police described the cyclist as only sustaining minor cuts. A Swellesley reader has commented that the cyclist may have had more severe injuries than that, but the police do not follow up or release additional info in these cases unless they are life threatening (and hospitals won’t release such info for privacy reasons). We’ve not been able to confirm the cyclist’s condition directly.

The motorist involved in the incident stopped and was talking to police about it.

Here’s hoping for a speedy recovering for the cyclist.

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Wellesley Business Buzz: Commuter parking relief from Boxcar; Cancer survivor celebration; David Sedaris in town

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Here’s our round-up of the latest Wellesley business news.

Got other Wellesley business tips on openings, closings or whatever, feel free to email us here: [email protected]

You can also email us if you’re interested in sponsoring our weekly Wellesley Business Buzz roundup.

Boxcar aims to simplify Wellesley Hills commuter parking

A New Jersey outfit called Boxcar has begun offering $5 all-day parking in Wellesley Hills for commuters who don’t to get boxed out of the skimpy train station parking lot (which costs $6 a day). There was a guy handing out promotional materials to commuters at the station this week.

boxcar wellesley
Boxcar app

Boxcar, which also offers services in California, Connecticut, New Jersey and New York, has struck a deal locally with the Unitarian Universalist Church in Wellesley. The church has spaces to spare during the week and is a short walk from the train station.

“With a total of 55 spaces and one of the more popular commuter rails in the Greater Boston area, Wellesley Hills was a natural choice for our model,” writes April Kabbash, Boxcar’s director of customer success. “The lot reaches capacity at 7am, leaving commuters with no place to park and unnecessary stress first thing in the morning. We really focus on any towns where demand exceeds capacity, but the natural starting point was our backyard in the NYC metropolitan area.”

This use of the church property in Wellesley is allowed under town bylaws since it is zoned as general residence. UU has agreed with Boxcar to manage about 20 spots. Though you can also apply for parking directly via the church.

Boxcar has also reached out to property owners near the Wellesley Square and Wellesley Farms train stations.  It has has an application on its mobile app for people to list their own parking spots for use by the company.

“Boxcar’s first space was actually our CEO’s driveway, and people are more than welcome to list their driveways on the app,” Kabbash says. “The rates are based on supply & demand, so a property adjacent to a high demand station could get up to $10+ per space with the property owner getting 75% of the revenue.”

In addition to parking services, Boxcar provides bus service and shared work space in some locales.

 

Celebrating cancer survivors

On Wednesday, June 19 from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m., the Mass General Cancer Center at Newton-Wellesley will host a special evening to celebrate cancer survivors. The event will be held in the Shipley Auditorium and Bowles Conference Center at Newton-Wellesley Hospital, 2014 Washington Street, Newton.

The open house will feature talks from Amy Comander, MD, Medical Director, Auerbach Breast Center, and David Bullis, PhD, Director of Ambulatory Behavioral Medicine, Mass General Cancer Center at Newton-Wellesley. In addition, interactive displays on the topics of nutrition, exercise, genetics, and community resources will be offered.

Light refreshments will be served. This is a free event. To register or for more information, contact [email protected].

David Sedaris in town

Bestselling humorist David Sedaris will be at Wellesley Books on June 10 at 9:30pm for the paperback release of his latest book, Calypso. Tickets for his reading and Q&A are sold out, however there are tickets available for the signing line portion of the event. There’s a premium signing line option for about $20. and a free late-entry signing line option. More info here.

Got other Wellesley business tips on openings, closings or whatever, feel free to email us here: [email protected]

You can also email us if you’re interested in sponsoring our weekly Wellesley Business Buzz roundup.

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Night paving in Wellesley along Washington Street on June 4

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From the Wellesley Department of Public Works:

Attention Drivers: Night paving is scheduled for sections of Washington Street beginning at 8pm on Tuesday, June 4 until 5am on Wednesday, June 5.

Department of Public Works crews will be paving milled sections of the road between Route 9 and Crescent Street. Drivers are asked to use caution in that area during the night.

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