Illinois Awards Funding for Evanston & Oak Park Divvy Stations

http://dailynorthwestern.com/2014/09/28/city/bike-sharing-program-d...

Divvy bike sharing program to expand into Evanston

The bike sharing service Divvy will come to Evanston in spring 2015, Gov. Pat Quinn’s office announced Sunday.

Starting next year, the city will install eight Divvy docking stations, according to a news release from the governor’s office. The state’s $3 million investment in the program will help fund 700 new bikes and 70 stations across Evanston, Oak Park and other Chicago neighborhoods.

The three cities will collectively contribute $750,000 for Divvy’s expansion to add to the state’s $3 million investment.

Evanston will give $108,000, which will come from various sources in the city budget and possible station sponsors from the private sector, city manager Wally Bobkiewicz said in an email to Evanston media.

City Council will decide where in Evanston the bike stations will be located, he said. The city is also in talks with Northwestern to team up and introduce stations at or near campus, he said.

“The Divvy program has proven to be a successful and innovative way to commute, navigate congested city streets and explore vibrant Chicago communities,” Quinn said in a news release. “Expanding Divvy outside of the city limits means fewer cars on the roads and gives more residents and visitors the fun opportunity to take a ride.”

Divvy will help improve residents’ health and lower the city’s carbon footprint, Tisdahl said at the event. The service fits in with Evanston’s Livability Plan, which aims to make Evanston a more bikeable city and to reduce the city’s green house gas emissions 20 percent by 2016.

In April, the Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program denied an application to fund the expansion of the Divvy program to Evanston. The city and the Chicago Department of Transportation had originally applied in August 2013 for $3 million in grants. Although no money was allotted for the bike service, Evanston received money through the same funding program to put in a bike path through NU’s campus.

The Chicago Department of Transportation created Divvy in 2013 to provide to residents and tourists alike an alternate transportation option. More than 200 cities currently have bike-sharing systems, including London, New York and Boston, according to the Divvy website.

Email: jenniferball2015@u.northwestern.edu
Twitter: @jennifercball


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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Duppie on September 28, 2014 at 11:21am
Great news. Does anyone know about interoperability? Can I use my existing Divvy membership in Evanston?
Permalink Reply by Gary Fredericks on September 28, 2014 at 12:07pm

I don't know for sure, but I would be shocked if you couldn't.

Duppie said:

Great news. Does anyone know about interoperability? Can I use my existing Divvy membership in Evanston?
Permalink Reply by Matt M. 18.5KM on September 28, 2014 at 1:34pm

YAY

Permalink Reply by Fran Kondorf on September 28, 2014 at 2:51pm

It's about 3 miles in moderate/heavy traffic. Plus, you'd be piloting one of those tanks...

h' 1.0 said:

Not sure what the point of asking is if we can't believe anything they promise.

Was wondering if anyone knew the distance/ride time between Clark/Berwn and Clark/Howard.

Jeff Schneider said:

Will there be any stations between Evanston and the existing northernmost in A-ville?

Permalink Reply by Duppie on September 28, 2014 at 4:43pm
Yes. Go to the Divvy website and look up the 2015 stations. A bunch more are identified for Edgewater and Rogers Park, including every half mile or so on Clark

Jeff Schneider said:

Will there be any stations between Evanston and the existing northernmost in A-ville?

Permalink Reply by Thunder Snow on September 28, 2014 at 10:20pm

Sorry about that, h'.  There's no excuse for any bad attitude from Divvy folks. We Rebalancers are without exception, friendly, kind, helpful folks who are genuinely happy to show someone how to get a new ride code or raise the seat on their bike.  You may have run into a Station Tech.  They drive short stumpy little blue vans, scowl all the time and, like computer nerds in any company, find it difficult to interact with nondigital humans.  I have no idea what he was trying to accomplish by emptying a station, but next time one of them gives you grief, just tell him (yeah it's always a "him") you can beat him in World of Warcraft without even trying.
 
h' 1.0 said:

The driver (I guess) had got out and was standing behind the truck.  He watched me ride up and dock the bike with a look of unmistakable disgust/contempt.  I almost did a double take to check to see whether I had just run over his dog....

Permalink Reply by Thunder Snow on September 29, 2014 at 4:12am

Nah, no complicated calculations are involved.  Mostly, you just figure what half of the station capacity is and fill it with 50 per cent bikes and 50 per cent open docks.  The guy should have been thrilled that your docked bike saved him from unloading one more bike.  He must have been having an off day.  Again, apologies from the rest of us at Divvy who ARE trying.

Permalink Reply by ad on September 29, 2014 at 6:39am

Well, the article I read did note they are placing 50 stations in Austin, Garfield Park and Rogers Park neighborhoods (to better connect Evanston and Oak Park would be my assumption) as part of the grant, so my bet would be that they do intend to create a string of stations that make it hypothetically feasible to ride a Divvy from Oak Park to the Loop (my guess would be along Lake, so they can place the docks near the green line stations, and utilize the protected lane once extended all the way out to Austin Blvd).  

http://politics.suntimes.com/article/chicago/divvy-bikes-headed-bur...



Andy Moss 9.5 said:

Based on the 2015 station map, Divvy is going to have to add additional stations on the West Side to make stations in Oak Park useful.  It looks like the closest Chicago Divvy stations will be Kedzie/Lake and North Ave/Central Park.  North is too far north (and not a good option for riding to points east).  There are west side stations on Roosevelt and Harrison, but those are too far south to be convenient for getting to/from downtown Oak Park.  Augusta, Lake, Washington or Madison would be the logical choices, but it would be cutting it close, if not impossible, to get a station on this map from downtown OP in 30 minutes.  A Divvy station at Cicero/Lake and several along Madison (which has bike lanes between Hamlin and Central and is not bad to ride on) would go a long way. 

I can't imaging that Oak Park is going to receive--or even permit--stations in neighborhoods as they are in the city, notwithstanding that it has city-like density.  What that means is that Divvy will not be useful for people commuting between their homes and other public transit.  It may be useful to get, say, from one El station or Metra to retail centers in Oak Park.  But those places are generally very close together already and all are served by El stops.  Perhaps traveling between the Green line/Metra and the Blue line may be have some attraction, but because all three trains go to essentially the same place, I don't see that much demand.

All that said, maybe the solution is to go to a 45-minute limit like NYC.  Until something happens to connect OP to the rest of the Divvy system, I think the funds for OP should be used to expand Divvy elsewhere.  I say this as someone who rides Divvy all the time and lives in OP.

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