Also, one way to think about the data as presented is that bus stops in particular are good proxy points for activity. There’s a bus stop near most homes and job sites; it may not be the bus that’s near your home or office, but there’s usually a bus stop there. Siting the bike share kiosks near bus stops takes advantage of that latent demand.

Also, as someone pointed out in a comment at Streetsblog, some of the farther away bikeshare sites are actually close to other transit options such as ferries.

Perhaps DOT could shed some light on the details of their siting decisions. The map was the result of an extensive public input process (one which i think is a great model for other city agencies to follow). It’d be interesting to learn more about why certain locations were picked over others. There may be very good – but perhaps not obvious – reasons for some of the siting choices. Hopefully we’ll learn more as the process continues.