Mayor Emanuel Lauds Divvy Bike Share System Early Success

August 1, 2013

More Than 80,000 Bike Trips Taken, 250,000 Miles Ridden in First Month of Operation; 24 Corporate & Community Partners; System Expanding Further Into Neighborhoods

Mayor Emanuel on a Divvy Bike

As the Divvy bike share system expands further into Chicago’s neighborhoods, Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced today that 24 local companies and community organizations have signed on as Corporate and Community Partners, which gives their employees and members discounted annual memberships to Divvy. 

In just the first month of operations, Chicagoans and visitors to the city have taken more than 80,000 trips and have collectively ridden an estimated 250,000 miles, longer than the distance to the moon. 

“Bike sharing in Chicago has been very successful in just a very short time, and we are expanding the system into more neighborhoods for more Chicagoans to utilize this exciting new way to move around the city,” Mayor Emanuel said.

The mayor opened the newest station in the system today at Fosco Park Community Center, 1312 S. Racine Ave., and announced that at 117 stations in operation on Thursday, Divvy will already be the fourth largest bike share system in the country. 

The Divvy system will ramp up to 300 stations and 3,000 bikes by this fall, and by next spring, will be in 400 neighborhood locations with 4,000 bikes. The current and planned locations are denoted on the stations map at DivvyBikes.com.

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.

Nearly 4,000 Chicagoans have signed up for Divvy Annual Memberships at DivvyBikes.com. 

“Local companies and community organizations can also become partners in the program and encourage their employees and members to join Divvy at discounted rates,” said Chicago Department of Transportation Commissioner Gabe Klein. “We are extremely pleased with the amount of early participation and enthusiasm the Chicago business community has shown for bike sharing.”

The 24 current Corporate and Community Partners include:

  • Metropolitan Planning Council
  • YR&G
  • Eleven City Diner
  • Solomon Cordwell Buenz
  • Sprout Social
  • EQE Partners
  • Fox News Digital
  • GA Communication
  • Morr Sharp Associates
  • US Equities
  • onShore Networks
  • Steadfast Networks
  • Sam Schwartz Engineering
  • AXA Assistance
  • DRW Trading
  • Big Bowl
  • Morningstar
  • World Business Chicago
  • Classified Ventures
  • HBK Engineering
  • Jones Lang LaSalle
  • Mintel Group
  • Park Community Church
  • Compass Lexecon 

Divvy Corporate and Community Partners have the ability to offer their employees or members discounted annual memberships of $65 or less (normally $75), or can elect to further subsidize the costs for employees.

The system is dubbed “Divvy” to reflect the nature of bike share, where members “divide and share” the use of the bikes. The bicycles’ distinctive “Chicago Blue” paint is the same color as the stripes on the Chicago city flag.

Klein also announced that a single red bike – painted the color of the stars on the city flag – has been released into the Divvy system. Riders of the red bike can use the hashtag #divvyred to post online via social media photos and videos featuring the bike. 

Riders of #divvyred and social media users will be eligible to win prizes from Divvy, including annual memberships, Divvy merchandise, and gift certificates for hotel stays, food and architecture tours.  Chicagoans can find out more about the system through social media on Twitter at @DivvyBikes and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/DivvyBikes.

 

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