Boston, MA Mobility & Curb Rules: Bike Lane Rules (2026)

41, added by Ord. 2009 c. 7, flatly bars standing or parking any motor vehicle in a lane marked as a bike lane or shared bike lane, whether the lane runs along a curb or down the center of a street. The ordinance carves out three narrow exceptions: stopping briefly to avoid a collision with other traffic or a pedestrian, stopping or parking on the lawful direction of a police officer or an official traffic sign, and parking under an existing authorization such as a residential parking permit or a metered space that happens to overlap the lane.

Outside those exceptions, enforcement runs through both the Boston Transportation Department and the Boston Police Department, and the ordinance expressly authorizes either agency to impound a vehicle found parked in a bike lane. L. Chapter 90, Section 20A½ and Chapter 190 of the Acts of 1982, so a driver who wants to contest a bike-lane ticket goes through the city's standard parking-violation hearing process rather than criminal court. The Commissioners of the Transportation Department and Police Department can also issue further rules and regulations to implement the Section, meaning enforcement details can be refined by regulation rather than requiring a new ordinance.