The Chainlink

11-15-18 Update - Large Percentage of Divvy Fleet Missing! Serious Loss Problems for Chicago's Bike Share 7-12-18

Divvy should consider adding an easily identifiable bike numbering system in order to assist authorities in determining the status of their fleet. 

The News Corner:

Serious Loss Problems for Divvy

"Locking systems easily compromised by thieves."

For the full article:

http://www.cwbchicago.com/2018/07/compromised-lock-system-has-divvy...

I have been seeing a lot more 'free range' Divvy bikes lately. 

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Hey,  it can be possible that the actual percentage may be much larger than 2% according to how the Divvy info and inventory is recorded. It still appears that a large percentage of the Divvy fleet is missing. 

"Since July 1st, arrests of adults in possession of stolen Divvy bikes have lead CPD to recover 2% of the system's fleet, according to an analysis of the records by CWB Chicago. There is no way of tracking the number of additional bikes recovered from juvenile offenders because those records are shielded from public review."

"Despite the known theft issue, the exact number of Divvy bikes stolen and still at-large is a complete mystery. The system operator is only required to report its inventory count to the city once per year—on October 1st. Chicago’s system had 6,054 bikes last October 1st, according to the city. And only 38 bikes were “missing” on that day."

"A conversation with one Divvy valet worker this month revealed that he had been told that 20% of the company's fleet has gone missing during the theft surge. A spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment about the employee’s claim."

Typo Note: DNAinfo Chicago has ceased operations and Block Club Chicago has taken its place. 

I bet the number of bikes stolen vs. the number missing is very different. When I worked at CDOT, I believe that bikes were either stolen or not returned (meaning they were checked out legit and then never docked) quite a bit, but very few bikes were permanently missing. Even if people are taking the bikes more now, the amount that are actually out of the fleet could be pretty small. And by the way, when people found Divvy bikes in weird places, they would inundate us with emails and pictures, and I bet that's happening even more now.

Could you come up  with a guesstimate of what you think the percentage of missing Divvy fleet is with the current theft wave ongoing? Many good samaritans are reporting, (myself included) abandoned Divvy bikes in locations that are never recovered by Divvy personnel. These good samaritans are now hesitant to themselves return them to a docking station due to the possibility of being charged with being in the possession of stolen property.

This is why we can't have nice things.

CWBChicago
CWBChicago
Unreported: the man who was stopped is well-known to police, businesses, and residents in the area of Chicago/State. We've informed Streetsblog of the man's background and reasons police may be suspicious of his possession of a Divvy. None of that info is in the story.
@CWBChicago
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Unreported: the man who was stopped is well-known to police, businesses, and residents in the area of Chicago/State. We've informed Streetsblog of the man's background and reasons police may be suspicious o
@CWBChicago
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...The man has never been convicted of drug dealing, though he currenlty has a case pending of possessing 10 to 30 grams of cannabis....at Chicago/State.
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CWBChicago
CWBChicago
@CWBChicago
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....The man barred from the McDonald's property at State/ Chicago. He has been arrested at that intersection three times this year. The reason he was being given a ticket as seen in this report is that Starbucks phoned in "a known drug dealer" sitting on their front steps.

I've worked with John Greenfield a lot over the last several years and I feel comfortable working with him because we both want to get at the truth, do what is best, and strive to always do better. I have a lot of respect for him. I don't really feel great about giving an anonymous person the space and promotion on The Chainlink for running stories that don't really tell the whole truth, hide important details and show an unhealthy bias. Tom, please read this article. I realize there are times I won't agree with a Chainlink member but it gives me pause when I see numerous posts giving CWB promotion and there seems to be no mention of John Greenfield's concerns. Please be careful about that. 

https://chi.streetsblog.org/2018/08/29/crime-blog-says-arrest-of-bl... 

I also struggle with throwing around words like "trouble-maker" and saying he's a "drug dealer". Is it pot? Is he a dealer or user? Why do we care so much when the referendum says we really don't? 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/ct-evr-marijuana-referendum-t...

There is a long-standing history of uneven enforcement with regards to marijuana. I feel very strongly that we need to be careful to take any story sold to us as "news" from a questionable news source with a very big grain of salt. Chicago Streetsblog has been around for years and is not anonymous. 

yup, thanks, posted it as well ^^

What really are the true facts going on in this situation? As an impartial and concerned community member I'm interested in gathering all the facts that I can from the media outlets and also from my own observations to form my own opinion and judgment of what I feel is actually occurring. 

I am very familiar with the area in question where this situation has happened and it has vastly changed for the worse in the past few years. What is wrong with trying to figure out (fairly) what is going on and fixing the situation. I appreciate the reporting of all media outlets when they take a good look at all of the facts and expose what is happening to try to remedy a situation for all in the community. 

I value and appreciate having an effective and thorough free press from which I can form my own opinion. Thank you for your input. 

If you strive to be impartial and you are concerned, give Streetsblog equal time (and post their articles in the same thread). I became concerned this didn't feel impartial when only one side's responses were posted. In addition, is it media/free press when one of the "news sources" is anonymous? At times, The Chainlink is an unfortunate example of how anonymous posting can lead to questionable information. Questioning is a healthy, good way to address the concern.

Yasmeen, there probably isn't a legitimate news source around that doesn't use anonymous sources in some circumstances.  So, yes, it is proper, when sources are properly verified, to use anonymous sources.  For example:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/14/reader-center/how-the-times-uses... 

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