October 6, 2014

Divvy Launches Student Membership Program To Make Bike Share Even More Affordable

Six Colleges Sign on to Offer $55 Memberships for Students

Mayor's Press Office    312.744.3334

Mayor Emanuel and Divvy, Chicago’s bike share system, today announced a new Student Membership program, making a Divvy annual membership available to students at participating colleges for just $55 – a discount from the standard $75 annual membership fee.

“Money can be tight for college students and making Divvy even more affordable will help students get around campus and enjoy Chicago’s neighborhoods,” said Mayor Emanuel. “With the upcoming expansion of Divvy into more neighborhoods and our continued growth of dedicated bike lanes throughout the city, this is another step forward as Chicago continues to set a new standard for other cities to follow.”

The program is being launched with six institutions: City Colleges of Chicago, Columbia College, Northwestern University, DePaul University, Rush University Medical Center, and University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). More schools are expected to sign on to the program in the coming months.

The discounted rate will be made available to students currently enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate program at the participating schools. Students interested in signing up for Divvy can visit http://DivvyBikes.com/student, select their school, and sign up with their school email address as well as a unique password that the schools will distribute to students.

“At the City Colleges of Chicago we are focused on ensuring our students receive a quality, affordable education that prepares them for further college and careers," said John Brophy, Sustainability Coordinator, City Colleges of Chicago. “The Divvy program, in conjunction with the CTA UPass and our new City Colleges shuttle service, means that City Colleges students now have more options than ever to travel cost effectively between class, internships and jobs, and home.”

Divvy is Chicago’s bike-sharing system, with 3,000 bikes and 300 stations across the city. In 2015 Divvy will expand to 545 stations with locations in new Chicago neighborhoods and neighboring suburbs Evanston and Oak Park, making it the largest bike share program in North America based on station count and square miles of service area.

Since launching last year, Divvy has enrolled more than 23,000 annual members and has sold half a million 24-hour passes. In its first 15 months of operation, Divvy riders have taken more than 2.7 million trips totaling an estimated 6 million miles travelled. Additionally, Chicago is now ranked by Bicycling magazine as the second best city in America for cycling, up from fifth place two years ago.

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