Shift Towns · Massachusetts

Walking, biking & transit in Waltham

See the routes Waltham neighbors actually walk, ride and take transit on, what's happening locally, and how the town is trending — built from real trips logged in the Shift app.

Keep a pulse on Waltham. New street projects, meetings worth your voice, and how Waltham is moving. One or two emails a month.

Get involved in Waltham

Safer streets are made by neighbors who speak up. Start small:

Happening nowMon, Nov 16 · 6:00 PM · virtual

Public Meeting | Bus Network Redesign Proposed Updates: Route 70 and Connecting Routes (Virtual)

The MBTA is asking riders to weigh in on proposed changes to Route 70 and connecting bus routes serving Waltham, Watertown, Newton, Arlington, Cambridge, Belmont, and Needham.

Attend the virtual meeting→

In Waltham

City committees you can join

  • Waltham Bicycle Advisory Committee — A volunteer committee that meets monthly on a Thursday evening at the Waltham Public Library to push for safer biking and walking in the city, and publishes agendas, minutes, and local project news to its email list.

Clubs & ride groups

Commuter perks & fare help

  • 128 Business Council — A Waltham-based transportation management association that runs low-cost commuter shuttles connecting Waltham workplaces with transit and helps employers set up commuting programs.
Regional & statewide groups, 7 more

Advocacy groups

  • LivableStreets Allianceregional — The Metro Boston advocacy group for people-centered streets and transit, whose research and comment letters cover projects across the region.
  • TransitMattersstatewide — The transit advocacy group pushing for faster, more reliable buses and trains across Greater Boston, with data-driven campaigns anyone can join.
  • Transportation for Massachusetts (T4MA)statewide — A statewide coalition of community groups advocating for safe, affordable, and reliable transportation choices in every corner of the state.
  • WalkMassachusettsstatewide — The statewide walking advocacy organization that leads walk audits and pedestrian-safety campaigns, with open network meetings on Zoom the third Wednesday of each month.
  • MassBikestatewide — The statewide bicycling coalition — a way to plug into bike advocacy, group rides, and Bike Month events across Greater Boston and beyond.

Commuter perks & fare help

  • MBTA reduced faresstatewide — Reduced-fare programs for seniors, riders with disabilities, people aged 18–25 on low incomes, and middle and high school students. Most cut the fare roughly in half.

Get updates

  • MBTA accessibility alertsstatewide — Live notices when an elevator or escalator is out of service, plus how to arrange a shuttle when one is. Worth subscribing to if a lift is part of how you get to the platform.

Events near Waltham

A few picks over the next 30 days — the full calendar has everything.

All community events →

Roams to try

Self-guided routes. Preview the full route here, then check in at each stop in the Shift app to unlock the badge.

Photo: Seasider53 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Battle Road Trail

Starts 4.6 mi from central Waltham · Walk · 6 mi route · 2 hr · Lexington · Concord

Walk the path of the American Revolution, from Lexington to Concord

Photo: Karl Alexander

Mystic River Greenway (Alewife to Medford)

Starts 4.8 mi from central Waltham · Bike · 6.7 mi route · 41 min · Arlington · Somerville · Medford

Two rivers, two T stations, and 300 years of history between them

Photo: Joseph Reagle / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Fresh Pond Loop

Starts 4.9 mi from central Waltham · Walk · 2.5 mi route · 50 min · Cambridge

Cambridge's 155-acre reservoir, fully looped, no street crossings.

All roams →

Trails in and near Waltham

Paths of their own for walking and biking, with where to get on.

All trails
#1 of 14
Massachusetts towns by shift rate in November
197
active trips so far in November
288
active miles
257
lbs CO₂ avoided*
13
neighbors active so far in November

Shift Rate is the share of trips taken actively (walk, micromobility, transit). Counts cover November 1 through today, based on trips logged by Shift community members that start or end in Waltham — a growing sample, meant as an interesting local signal, not an official or census-level count. *CO₂ avoided is estimated from active miles traveled (EPA 404 g/mi baseline).

Momentum

Active trips in Waltham by week ending, last 5 completed weeks, and climbing.

Oct 4Oct 11Oct 18Oct 25Nov 1

Friendly competition

Massachusetts towns by shift rate so far in November, the share of trips taken actively. Every town here has its own page: local stats, popular routes, events, and ways to get involved.

  1. 1Waltham95%
  2. 2Boston92%
  3. 3Somerville92%
  4. 4Cambridge91%
  5. 5Everett89%
  6. 6Malden88%
  7. 7Medford88%
  8. 8Brookline87%
  9. 9Quincy79%
  10. 10Newton78%
  11. 11Arlington60%
  12. 12Newburyport45%
  13. 13Watertown35%
  14. 14Lexington24%

How Waltham moves

Trips and miles neighbors logged so far in November, by mode.

Share of trips

83%

Share of miles

14%
37%
9%
34%
Walking
176 trips · 69.4 mi
Biking & scooting
7 trips · 11.7 mi
Bus
3 trips · 21 mi
Train
11 trips · 185.9 mi
Carpool
4 trips · 44.8 mi
Driving
11 trips · 172.3 mi

What is this?

Shift is a free app from Green Streets Initiative, a Somerville nonprofit since 2006, for finding better ways to get around. Every walk, bike ride and transit trip people take with Shift adds to Waltham's totals on this page. Shift counts trips on its own.

Keep Waltham on top.

Every walk, ride, and transit trip counts automatically. Download Shift free and put your trips on Waltham's board.

Download on the App StoreGet it on Google Play

Community stats reflect trips by Shift community members that start or end in Waltham and refresh hourly. Municipalities and community groups can request aggregate data at info@gogreenstreets.org. A project of Green Streets Initiative, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.