Chicago bike sharing will be known as Divvy, be Chicago flag blue

Chicago Tribune.

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Permalink Reply by Kevin C Dormant on May 29, 2013 at 5:11pm
I share your goal. I likely differ with you both about how best to achieve that goal.

Chi Lowe 12.5+ mi said:

+1

Michelle Stenzel said:

I'd like to have a city where average people can ride a bike for transportation and don't need to have any more courage to do so than when they're walking on the sidewalk, or riding a bus, or driving a car.

Kevin C said:

Diplomacy is not a good trait for a reporter. It's a good trait for an advocate. On a semi-related note, when we "get the job done" what exactly do you want cycling in Chicago to look like?

Michelle Stenzel said:

He's very diplomatic, and we need all kinds out there to get the job done.

Kevin C said:

John's not a reporter. He's a cheerleader.

Michelle Stenzel said:

"Hundreds of excited citizens sign up in advance for bike share in first few hours, with absolutely no glitches reported" wrote no reporter, ever. Except for the Streetsblog guys, of course. Especially John. 

Permalink Reply by Zoetrope on May 29, 2013 at 6:43pm

Get ready, everyone. Kevin is gonna remind us of his brilliant emotion-based, fact-less and unscientific opinions on how PBL's are scary and dangerous.

Kevin C said:

I share your goal. I likely differ with you both about how best to achieve that goal.
Permalink Reply by Justin B Newman on May 30, 2013 at 4:16am

Despite the Trib's placement amongst news, this was an opinion piece. (A pretty good column, arguably, had it been labelled such). It didn't really qualify as news, nor reporting...

Kevin C said:

Diplomacy is not a good trait for a reporter. It's a good trait for an advocate. On a semi-related note, when we "get the job done" what exactly do you want cycling in Chicago to look like?

Michelle Stenzel said:

He's very diplomatic, and we need all kinds out there to get the job done.

Kevin C said:

John's not a reporter. He's a cheerleader.

Michelle Stenzel said:

"Hundreds of excited citizens sign up in advance for bike share in first few hours, with absolutely no glitches reported" wrote no reporter, ever. Except for the Streetsblog guys, of course. Especially John. 

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on May 30, 2013 at 4:23am
  • Comparing this with the parking meter deal is typical of the soundbite oriented media of today.

    Exactly.

  • The legalese seem somewhat boilerplate to me. Overage fees are clearly stated on their website. Rented from Redbox lately? Rented a car lately? They all have overage fees of some kind and the overage fees often are of the punitive kind. Writing a front page article heralding this as outrageous seems sensationalist as well.

    I felt the same way.  Terms like this are common in other bike share programs, car share, etc.  Hilkevitch seemed exceptionally negative in this piece and I'm wondering why.
Permalink Reply by Adam Herstein on May 30, 2013 at 4:25am

I would not qualify this piece as an opinion. He is merely stating facts. While nothing in his recent article is technically false, I feel that he is dwelling too much on the negative aspects (which if all the rules are followed, are really not that big of a deal) and none of the positive aspects of the bike share program. 

Mr. Hilkevitch tends to be fairly neutral. This is a disappointing article to say the least.

Permalink Reply by Justin B Newman on May 30, 2013 at 4:44am

Trademarks of an opinion piece:

"exceeding 30 minutes on a three-speed Divvy bike will get expensive faster than most people can pedal."

"But the Divvy contract offers this bitter pill"

"But already, skeptics are questioning the cost and whether bicycle sharing is the next parking meter deal. The skeptics also question whether bicycle sharing stands even a chance of being as popular in Chicago as it has been in Washington, on the West Coast and in other metropolitan areas."

"Will businessmen put their briefcases in the basket on a Divvy bike and ride to meetings, risking sweat stains on expensive suits just to save a couple of dollars on a taxicab and possibly save a tree from pollution?"

These are appropriate to an opinion piece. For news, he might have attempted to answer these questions:

* How do the over-use penalties apply to other bike sharing programs around the country?

* In other places, what percentage of use results in a penalty?

* Do other bike sharing programs have similar terms of service? What about fitness facilities? Is there any basis for the language to be called a "bitter pill"?

* Who are the skeptics? What did they say? Have there been studies done to back the assertion that it will be less successful than in comparable cities?

* Are bicycles used in comparable cities (including by climate) by suited business men? Do they routinely have sweat stains when they complete their rides?

That would have been a news story...


Adam Herstein (5.5 mi) said:

I would not qualify this piece as an opinion. He is merely stating facts. While nothing in his recent article is technically false, I feel that he is dwelling too much on the negative aspects (which if all the rules are followed, are really not that big of a deal) and none of the positive aspects of the bike share program. 

Mr. Hilkevitch tends to be fairly neutral. This is a disappointing article to say the least.

Permalink Reply by Crazy David 84 Furlongs on May 30, 2013 at 5:58am

The anti-bicycle trolls on the Tribune site make little sense.  But one DID raise a point that I don't think has yet been addressed.  What happens if I have a DIVVY bicycle out and it suffers a breakdown.  (Let's make it a bad chain due to faulty maintenance)    If I can't walk/push/carry it to the nearest DIVVY location in time do I get hit with an overtime charge on top of the delay?

If I am hit by an uninsured motorist while on DIVVY am I responsible for the late fees and the cost of the damage to the bicycle?   I know with my OWN bicycle, since I have a cage as well, that if I am hit by an uninsured motorist, the car insurance covers this as well.  I don't think it covers DIVVY.   Are any insurance plans going to be made available to cover this?  I would think that even a $50 per year plan would more than cover the risk as I doubt that even 1 in 24 riders are going to see a bicycle destroyed on their watch each year.   (I would guess that its well less than 1 in 100, so even $12 per year would be sufficient...)



Justin B Newman said:

Trademarks of an opinion piece:

"exceeding 30 minutes on a three-speed Divvy bike will get expensive faster than most people can pedal."

"But the Divvy contract offers this bitter pill"

"But already, skeptics are questioning the cost and whether bicycle sharing is the next parking meter deal. The skeptics also question whether bicycle sharing stands even a chance of being as popular in Chicago as it has been in Washington, on the West Coast and in other metropolitan areas."

"Will businessmen put their briefcases in the basket on a Divvy bike and ride to meetings, risking sweat stains on expensive suits just to save a couple of dollars on a taxicab and possibly save a tree from pollution?"

These are appropriate to an opinion piece. For news, he might have attempted to answer these questions:

* How do the over-use penalties apply to other bike sharing programs around the country?

* In other places, what percentage of use results in a penalty?

* Do other bike sharing programs have similar terms of service? What about fitness facilities? Is there any basis for the language to be called a "bitter pill"?

* Who are the skeptics? What did they say? Have there been studies done to back the assertion that it will be less successful than in comparable cities?

* Are bicycles used in comparable cities (including by climate) by suited business men? Do they routinely have sweat stains when they complete their rides?

That would have been a news story...


Adam Herstein (5.5 mi) said:

I would not qualify this piece as an opinion. He is merely stating facts. While nothing in his recent article is technically false, I feel that he is dwelling too much on the negative aspects (which if all the rules are followed, are really not that big of a deal) and none of the positive aspects of the bike share program. 

Mr. Hilkevitch tends to be fairly neutral. This is a disappointing article to say the least.

Permalink Reply by Alex Z on May 30, 2013 at 6:15am

Why do you think this? I'm not skeptical, just wondering. I don't know much about the background of Divvy but it seems like it will be an extremely large project to keep all the bikes and docks in working order.

Jeff Schneider said:

The number of instances of people being stranded by breakdowns will, I think, be very few.

Permalink Reply by Sarah D. on May 30, 2013 at 6:17am

Like any carsharing or bikesharing situation, you contact Divvy about your accident/breakdown, and they adjust the rates based on the circumstances. Molehills. 

David crZven 10.6 said:

But one DID raise a point that I don't think has yet been addressed.  What happens if I have a DIVVY bicycle out and it suffers a breakdown.  (Let's make it a bad chain due to faulty maintenance)    If I can't walk/push/carry it to the nearest DIVVY location in time do I get hit with an overtime charge on top of the delay?

If I am hit by an uninsured motorist while on DIVVY am I responsible for the late fees and the cost of the damage to the bicycle?   

 

Permalink Reply by Adam Herstein on May 30, 2013 at 6:56am

Mind telling that to the NIMBY's in New York, too?

Jeff Schneider said:

In general, it seems that people are forgetting that Chicago is not a pioneer with this system.  We don't really have to speculate about how it will work, since there is lot of experience already from other cities.  We can read about that and judge whether we want to participate or not.

Permalink Reply by Jeff Markus on May 30, 2013 at 7:02am

I suffer from economic depression (unemployment, temporary employment) so I will wait to see how the system sets up but I love the concept and if I get flush I will join since I quite often would like to get downtown and have wheels for that "last mile".

Jeff

Permalink Reply by Active Transportation Alliance on May 30, 2013 at 8:10am

We've got a blog up on the Active Trans site responding to some of points raised in the Trib piece mentioned on this thread.  Thought some folks here might enjoy reading it - check it out: http://activetrans.org/blog/rburke/tribune-bike-share-story-questio...


Thanks!

Jim Merrell, Active Trans

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