Biking to Boston Logan Airport
45-90 minutes depending on your origin
Important disclaimers:
- Rush Hour on the T: Officially the T doesn't allow bikes on the Blue Line from 7-9am and 4-6pm, but unofficially they are lax on enforcing this. We've had zero problems traveling against rush hour traffic or with it. One time we boarded outbound during rush hour at 5 pm and nobody said anything.
- Train Timing - Megan clocked 45 minutes to the airport biking from western Cambridge at 5 am. The Blue Line sends all of their trains outbound around 5:30 am, which makes for a train coming every 5 minutes for a nice window of time.
- Back up Plan - if a T operator does pull a power trip, there are 2 back up plans: 1) leave your bike locked at the Aquarium T station or 2) bike to Boston Harbor Hotel and call a water taxi (from the phone provided) and you can bring your bike with you. The water taxi is $15 one way and is a stellar view.
waitwhat? Why would I bike to the airport?
Maybe you don't like cabs. You sure as hell don't like paying to park your own car at the airport. Maybe you're planning to bring your folding bike with you on your trip. Maybe you're just looking to kick off your vacation with a sense of accomplishment. Maybe you're looking to arrive for your flight alert and ready. Maybe you just like the sound of it... "biking to Logan Airport." Well my friend, you're in luck, because it's easier than you probably imagined. Let's get into it.
Packing for Convenience
Successfully biking to any airport really begins with your packing job, so if you're one of those people who can't go anywhere overnight without bringing six of everything "just in case," you're in trouble. You've got two choices for getting your luggage with you to the airport: Attached to the bike, or rolling behind the bike in a trailer. Option A is easier than it sounds, if you use one of those tiny 14 inch square rolling under-seat suitcases bungeed to the rear rack, and a messenger bag. The trailer option works just fine as well, but you've got more locked up out there outside the airport, and you'll take up a LOT of space on the subway, which will be a problem during heavier commute times. Try hard for Option A... trust us. It will make a lot of things easier. You don't need that extra jacket or that gigantic hard-cover book, and you should've sold that CaNikon DSLR for a mirrorless camera setup, like, two years ago. Downsize!
Using the T's Blue Line
The easiest way to "bike" to Logan Airport is, in fact, to cheat a little. Because we put the airport on the other side of a large body of water, your 100% biking option without using the T is pretty long, and it goes through some sketchy parts of town with, uh, "exciting" road conditions. We've done it a few times, and we can't really recommend it to most people. So in a nut shell, what you're going to do is this:
- Bike to the Aquarium T stop in downtown Boston
- Take the elevator on State Street -- just a hair east of the Marriott Custom House -- down to the station and hop on going east towards Wonderland for one stop
- Exit the train at Maverick to the left (follow signs for Lewis Mall), go through the turnstyles and straight into the elevator, then head up to ground level and bike the last mile or so to the airport
Here's the Blue Line schedule and fare listing.
The elevator you will emerge from at the Aquarium T Stop
We love the Maverick's station huge elevators! Can you see the Boston skyline in the background? Make sure to take a little detour and check out the East Boston waterfront views. Worth the 10 minute diversion.
Route Map
Once you've gotten to the Blue Line and ridden one stop east to Maverick, the rest of the route is 100% on off-road trails or sidewalks, thanks to the East Boston Greenway, pictured below, and Massport finally putting in accessible sidewalks:
The East Boston Greenway, taking you from Lewis Mall (where Maverick elevator dumps you) to the airport.
You'll take the Greenway to a sidewalk system (which is very wide, and reliably has no one walking on it, making it a bit of an unofficial cycle track), which will deliver you to bike racks outside Terminal A.
The Harborside Road sidewalks from the Greenway to terminal A: Wide, pristine, and devoid of foot-bound traffic. Giddyup!
Bike Parking at the Airport
We've always parked at Terminal A, because it's easy to reach by the sidewalk route, and because it has racks with extra cable loops on each spot to make it easier for you to lock your wheels or even your saddle. They're not covered, though, so leave a cheap saddle cover on. Here's an updated list of places at or near the airport that have bike racks, according to Massport, should you decide you'd like to lock up elsewhere.
Bike racks at terminal A, the first time we used them in 2009. I was excited to find our bikes right where we left them a week earlier. Note the dangling curly steel security cables. Loop them through your wheels and lock them up, too.
Scenic Views along the Way
Give yourself 20 minutes of buffer time just to take in this view from the East Boston waterfront. After you exit the Maverick elevator, turn around 180 degrees and take the path to the waterfront.
