Politics & Government

Divvy Bike Expansion Starting This Week, 25K Trips Already Taken

CDOT says it's rolling out a majority of the remaining Divvy kiosks starting this week, and Lincoln Square is on the list to receive more than 20.

Get ready to see more of those baby blue bikes riding around Lincoln Square, because the Chicago Department of Transportation says it's revving up Divvy station installation starting this week.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said since starting Divvy in June with just 70 bike kiosks, riders have already taken more than 25,000 trips and traveled an estimated 88,000 miles. Now Divvy staff plan to ramp up the program to 300 stations and 3,000 bikes by the end of summer.

More than 20 of those stations are slated to land in Lincoln Square.

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“Chicagoans and our visitors have embraced Divvy as a new transportation option, and we are now ready to expand the system so more people can safely and efficiently travel around the city's neighborhoods,” Emanuel said. “In just two weeks, Divvy has made a significant impact on the way people move around Chicago.”

Riders in Lincoln Square and Northcenter will be able to catch bikes at five locations on Lincoln Avenue and five more near Brown Line Stations. A total of 22 bike share stations will be installed throughout Ward 47.

Find out what's happening in Lincoln Squarewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Six kiosks will be funded by the alderman's menu improvement fund and tax increment finance districts will fund another two to three, said Bill Higgins, Ward 47's program analyst and coordinator. The Chicago Department of Transportation is funding the remaining kiosks. 

"We asked that they be sure to include the new Ravenswood Metra Station, the Ravenswood Corridor and Lincoln Avenue," Higgins previously told Patch in an email.

Those locations are included, along with three on Damen Avenue and several on Clark and Ashland Avenue.

CTA officials said they're still working on the order of installation, with a list coming at the end of the week. The expansion will run from the south, to north, to west neighborhoods.  

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Once completed in spring of 2014, Divvy will be in 400 neighborhood locations with 4,000 bikes.

Each Divvy station has a touchscreen kiosk, station map and a docking system that releases bikes using a member key or ride code. Customers can purchase $75 annual memberships or $7 24-Hour Passes, which allow riders unlimited trips in that period. The first 30 minutes of every trip are included in the cost of the membership or pass, and incremental fees apply to trips that exceed 30 minutes.

Annual members use a personal key used to quickly unlock bikes from any station. More than 2,500 Chicagoans have already signed up for Divvy Annual Memberships at DivvyBikes.com.

Of the more than 25,000 bike trips made from June 28 through July 11, more than 6,000 were made by annual members, and 19,000 were from customers who purchased 24-Hour passes. With 3,000 trips made on July 6, each Divvy bike averaged more than four trips that day.


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