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

Chicago Tribune.

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Permalink Reply by Crazy David 84 Furlongs on April 25, 2013 at 6:03am

Good.   Glad they went with a company that has experience in this kind of thing.  Those all sound like reasonable approaches to solve the problem.   That being said, I expect that the Grant Park Station is going to have to be (along with the Lincoln Park Zoo) one of the mega-sized dock stations for this to really work.  Its a GREAT idea, almost enough alone to justify the annual fee if you go to more than a few Grant Park concerts a year and come in by Metra.  And I think a lot of people will think this as well.   If we still had fireworks, venetian night and the like as well (but we don't) those would also be big high use dock demand on Grant Park.  (And, of course those bicycles need not be redistributed as they will be driven back to their respective train stations when the concert is over....

Permalink Reply by Michelle S on April 25, 2013 at 7:26am

Absolutely, I plan to sign up right away. I will use it to commute to work (<3 miles) on days when the weather looks very dicey in the afternoon/evening, or to commute home if morning thunderstorms clear up. I'll use it to get to a destination when I want to leave the options open for how to get home (i.e. friend gives a ride, take a cab, L home, bike share). Also, I'll use bike share to get that last mile half mile once I get off the L.

 

I rode a demo bike from Alta (that they said would be pretty much like the Chicago bikes) during the Women Bike Chicago conference, and it was great! The tires are big, seat is comfy, easy to shift and steer, and all around a very smooth and stable ride. 
 
Duppie 13.5185km said:

Are any local Chainlinkers thinking of getting a membership?

I occasionally find myself on the bus where "the last mile" would require changing buses with all the waiting involved.  I am thinking this may be useful for situations like that.

Any thoughts?

Permalink Reply by avi on April 26, 2013 at 2:58am

typical Chicago Way--only 75 of the 400 stations will be ready now (over a year late).  This is not that big of a project if only someone would pay attention

Permalink Reply by Christine (5.0) on April 26, 2013 at 4:16am

I have used bike sharing systems in other cities (Copenhagen, Paris, and Luxemburg) and I love them!  I'm torn on whether I want to get a membership here.  On the one hand, I won't need it, because I ride my bike everywhere.  On the other hand, if I have friends in town I sometimes take public transit, and it would be nice if they and I could then both use Divvy.  I guess the question is, would that happen more than 10 days a year?

It's unfortunate about the scandal surrounding it, but I'm optimistic nevertheless.

Permalink Reply by Adam Herstein on April 26, 2013 at 4:30am

It couldn't be a major project in Chicago without a scandal.

Christine (5.0) said:

It's unfortunate about the scandal surrounding it, but I'm optimistic nevertheless.

Permalink Reply by Thunder Snow on April 26, 2013 at 5:52am

I'll get a yearly membership ASAP, if for no other reason than to just try this out.  A couple years ago, I used Chicago's previous sharing test system, B-Cycle, for a few limited rides, again just to see what it was like.  B-Cycle was so limited in scope that all I could really do was get in a few rides around Northerly Island from the Planetarium, so I'm really interested to see how I can use Divvy, with its more extensive reach into the city.  Transfer from Ogilvie Metra to the Millenium Park Metra?  Sure, grab a Divvy.  Art Institute visit followed by a trip to the Harold Washington Library?  Yep, Divvy.

After the network is expanded, I think this will get much more interesting.  Pilsen to Chinatown, Andersonville to Lincoln Square.  Sounds good to me.

Permalink Reply by Bevin on April 26, 2013 at 11:28am

I also wish the time limit was an hour instead of 30 minutes.  (Unless, as some have suggested, you can pay for more time.)  One of the biggest attractions to me about bike sharing was for one-way trips.  I live along the Blue Line and do not really like the stress of riding with traffic on Milwaukee to work in the morning.  But, when I have after-work plans in neighborhoods closer to the lake, it would be perfect to use Divvy for a one-way trip heading north. 30 minutes could be a bit tight for Andersonville, etc. 

I am also not sure that the pricing is set up right for those "last mile trips."  Is $7 the minimum for a non-member who wants to just take a 30 min. trip? For non-annual members, I can't see a lot of people paying $7 on top of the CTA fare for a short ride.  Miami Beach has a lot more pricing options. http://www.decobike.com/pricing  We'll see if there is more detail to Divvy's pricing than what they are currently sharing.

Duppie 13.5185km said:

I don't think it is meant to be used for rides from downtown to let's say Edgewater.

But if you really want to, you could ride it for 25 minutes. Park it in a bike sharing station, and immediately take it out and continue your trip.

Will G - 10mi said:

I think that the 30 minute time limit is a little too short, how about 45 minutes or an hour? How did we arrive at 30 minutes? One cannot get to very many parts of the city from the Loop in less than 30 minutes, especially during high traffic times.

Permalink Reply by Adam Herstein on April 27, 2013 at 8:29am
h' 1.0 said:
7. Bike sharing works for millions of people in hundreds of cities in dozens of countries worldwide, Chicago is not so incredibly special that these topics have not been addressed before and/or could not be answered with a bit of searching
1,000 times this.
Permalink Reply by Elliot Greenberger (Divvy) on April 28, 2013 at 9:24am

Hi everyone.

It's wonderful to see this discussion about Divvy here on The Chainlink. I run marketing at Divvy and wanted to help answer some of the comments I'm seeing pop up. And thank you to the community members who have already taken time to answer people's questions!

Many of the questions have already been addressed, but here are short answers all in one place:

  1. Unlimited 30-minute trips: Whether you purchase a 24-hour Pass ($7) or an Annual Membership ($75), you'll have access to unlimited 30-minute trips for the duration of your pass or membership. The 30-minute trip limit is common across bike share programs. Divvy isn't designed for a leisurely ride across the city, but rather for easy, convenient trips from Point A to Point B.  
  2. "The last mile": As has been noted, one of the best uses for Divvy will be for "the last mile"—that distance between your home or work and the closest train or bus. In comparable cities, up to 50% of bike share trips are made to get to or from a public transit station.
  3. Station roll out: The first round of stations will roll out in the Loop and River North (high traffic areas), but will quickly expand throughout the city over the summer. We'll be announcing specific locations and timing as we get closer to launch.
  4. Taking Divvy to the store: You don't have to worry about a bike lock because the station docks serve as "locks". Many Divvy stations will be placed near commercial districts. That means members can ride Divvy to a station near the store they want to go to, dock it there, go shopping, and take Divvy back home. 
  5. If a station is full: Divvy will have crews circulating the city and rebalancing docking stations so that they're neither empty nor full. If you happen to arrive at a station that's full, the kiosk will redirect you to the closest available station (in which case members can request a 15-minute time credit by pressing the Station Full? button on the kiosk). Divvy will also have 24/7 customer service available by phone. 
  6. Using Divvy to get to events: Great suggestions about getting docking stations at big Chicago events over the summer. We will certainly try our best to make this happen. 
  7. Divvy is a new transit system: Building a new transit system of this size—it will be the second biggest bike share system in the country after NYC—is a big, exciting project. I recommend signing up on our website or connecting with us on social media so you can follow the progress as we launch this summer. 

Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions or would like to get involved as we prepare to launch. You can also read our FAQs here: http://www.DivvyBikes.com/learn-more

Website: http://www.DivvyBikes.com

Facebook:http://www.Facebook.com/DivvyBikes

Twitter: http://www.Twitter.com/DivvyBikes

Tumblr: http://DivvyBikes.Tumblr.com

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on April 28, 2013 at 11:51am

Thanks for the additional info!

Permalink Reply by Michelle S on April 28, 2013 at 1:13pm

Thanks, Elliot. Besides location of stations, I think the only other information that I can't find anywhere is the amount of the fees for additional usage, e.g. if you keep the bike out up to an additional 30 minutes. Have you determined those yet? TIA.

Permalink Reply by Crazy David 84 Furlongs on April 29, 2013 at 3:53am

Wow.   That's a pretty condescending answer.    We need to be careful that these kind of comments (and others like denigrating the warm weather commuters as "snowbirds") don't actually hurt the cause of bicycling.    The bicycle community wins by increasing the number of riders, not by coming across as arrogant and condescending.   Calling (or at least implying) people stupid really doesn't work.   Here's an idea for the re-write.

h' 1.0 said:

This is from a post in the Critical Mass listserv (not sure where the author lives...):

1. Yes, you can dock and renew. I do this all the time. Docks are every few blocks -- it's really *not* a hassle

Alt. Ver

1.   I have found that it is convenient to simply dock and renew the bicycle at intervals.   Once fully implemented, there are plenty of docks and so it really doesn't take much time and helps make sure that the bicycles remain in circulation and are available when I need one.

2. The bikes work best for short, point to point trips, which is why they don't have locks, and oh, did I mention that there are docks every few blocks? It's really not that hard to find one
Alt Version
2.   The Bikes can be easily docked at docks which are all around my likely destination.  This means I do not need to carry the weight of a lock and go through the hassle of finding somewhere safe to lock the bicycle.   I can simply use the dock and get a bicycle when I am ready to move on.
3. Any Visa or MasterCard, debit or credit, and yes including the Ventra debit card, will work to purchase a daily or annual membership
Alt Ver.
3.  The system is pretty flexible in that and visa or mastercard (both credit and debit) can be used.   While its a bit pricey in terms of service fees, and is likely not a good option, the New Ventra card can likely be used as well.   In Chicago they are going to place a $101 debit card hold.   This is much higher than Minneapolis, which has a $0 hold, but it is quite a bit less than the purported $1200 cost of the bicycle.   Perhaps, with experience, this will be reduced.  And a Credit card doesn't have the hold fee
4. The debit card hold here is $101, in Minneapolis it's $0! Wowza! That's a whole lot less than $1200!
Alt Ver.   Wapped into 3.
5. 75% of Americans have credit cards, which is a bit more than 1%
Alt Ver.   Delete as unnecessary.
6. Other cities, like Minneapolis and DC, have programs that give free or discounted memberships to low income and/or unbanked individuals
Alt Ver
6.   The details are not yet fully finalized, but several other major cities have programs that provide discounted or free membership to people with low incomes that may not have access to the bank structure needed to use the system.
7. Bike sharing works for millions of people in hundreds of cities in dozens of countries worldwide, Chicago is not so incredibly special that these topics have not been addressed before and/or could not be answered with a bit of searching
Alt. Ver.
7.   Bike sharing works for many people in many cities around the World.   While every City presents unique challenges, many of the potential problems have been worked out in these other cities.   This means that the Bike Sharing program will primarily focus on addressing those unique problems to Chicago.
I submit that this type of answer is a lot more positive and productive.

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