Divvy Temporarily Closed for Snow

Just got this email, so don't plan to ride Divvy home today:

 

 

 


Good morning.

Due to the weather, we will temporarily close Divvy at 12:00PM on Thursday, January 2, 2014 to protect the safety of our members and staff. No bikes can be rented after the temporary closure has begun, though any bikes in use at the time can be returned to any Divvy station with an available dock.

If you have any question about whether the system is open or closed, please call to speak with a Member Service Representative at 1-855-55-DIVVY (553-4889). You can also find the latest updates on the Divvy website, Facebook, and Twitter. Members will also be informed of closure and re-opening via email.



In December, we served nearly 45,000 trips, and we're looking forward to serving many more this winter.



Thank you again for your support and understanding.  


 


- The Divvy Team and the Chicago Department of Transportation

 


 

 

 


 


Divvy is Chicago's newest transit system with thousands of bikes available to you 24/7. With hundreds of stations across the city, Divvy is convenient, fast, fun, and affordable.


 


Visit DivvyBikes.com or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Tumblr. 

 

 

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This email was sent to x by info@divvybikes.com |  

Divvy | 711 SE Grand | Portland | OR | 97214

 

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Eli on January 3, 2014 at 6:28am

It's not like the kayak tours/bike tours/segway tours/boat tours are running now.

1. These are recreational activities, not infrastructure that is used by people to conduct their necessary daily business.

2. These companies did not take both individuals' subscriptions and tax dollars based on their explicit claim that they would be open 365 days a year. Also, when they shut down, they tend to announce that fact before, rather than after, the shutdown occurs, so that people can make plans and do not end up stranded.

Permalink Reply by Tom Dworzanski on January 3, 2014 at 6:30am

One good sign is people on Facebook have gone from encouraging the shutdown to wondering what's going on.

Permalink Reply by Duppie on January 3, 2014 at 6:32am

Tom,

Can you be more specific about the "outrageous amount of money in advance" that the city paid to Alta?

The city owns all the infrastructure. Alta is the operator. How much does the city pay to Alta for that?

Tom Dworzanski said:

I don't think you quite understand how Divvy works. You see, the city paid them an outrageous amount of money in advance to run the system 24/7/365. In addition, Alta (the company) and CDOT split any profits from credit card rides and yearly memberships. Since Divvy is not producing any credit card rides right now and probably almost no yearly memberships (they had a discount recently which would suggest exactly that), they have no incentive to keep the system open but a huge incentive to set a precedent to shut down winter riding.

I think it's nice that you try to flatter them by calling them a "business." But this is no business.

Carrie Hirsch said:

Keep looking to Divvy for further updates. Also imagine if you will trying to run around keeping all 300 stations spread all over the city. They want you're loyalty & money. They want to be back ASAP. What business wouldn't?
Permalink Reply by Tom Dworzanski on January 3, 2014 at 6:39am

Business don't typically make money by shutting down. (They may prevent loss by shutting down, of course.) Divvy literally makes money (as in a profit) by shutting down in the savings the retain that would otherwise be spent on running the system.

S said:

In what way aren't they a business?  It's not as if there aren't other seasonal businesses out there that shutdown at certain times of the year? It's not like the kayak tours/bike tours/segway tours/boat tours are running now.

Tom Dworzanski said:

I don't think you quite understand how Divvy works. You see, the city paid them an outrageous amount of money in advance to run the system 24/7/365. In addition, Alta (the company) and CDOT split any profits from credit card rides and yearly memberships. Since Divvy is not producing any credit card rides right now and probably almost no yearly memberships (they had a discount recently which would suggest exactly that), they have no incentive to keep the system open but a huge incentive to set a precedent to shut down winter riding.

I think it's nice that you try to flatter them by calling them a "business." But this is no business.

Carrie Hirsch said:

Keep looking to Divvy for further updates. Also imagine if you will trying to run around keeping all 300 stations spread all over the city. They want you're loyalty & money. They want to be back ASAP. What business wouldn't?
Permalink Reply by Tom Dworzanski on January 3, 2014 at 6:41am

I can't find the thread with all the discussion on this. I'm not an expert but I recall people debating the cost being between $5,500 and $17,000 per bicycle paid up front.

Duppie said:

Tom,

Can you be more specific about the "outrageous amount of money in advance" that the city paid to Alta?

The city owns all the infrastructure. Alta is the operator. How much does the city pay to Alta for that?

Tom Dworzanski said:

I don't think you quite understand how Divvy works. You see, the city paid them an outrageous amount of money in advance to run the system 24/7/365. In addition, Alta (the company) and CDOT split any profits from credit card rides and yearly memberships. Since Divvy is not producing any credit card rides right now and probably almost no yearly memberships (they had a discount recently which would suggest exactly that), they have no incentive to keep the system open but a huge incentive to set a precedent to shut down winter riding.

I think it's nice that you try to flatter them by calling them a "business." But this is no business.

Carrie Hirsch said:

Keep looking to Divvy for further updates. Also imagine if you will trying to run around keeping all 300 stations spread all over the city. They want you're loyalty & money. They want to be back ASAP. What business wouldn't?
Permalink Reply by Bill the Cat on January 3, 2014 at 6:46am
Yes Tom, please enlighten us as to this "outrageous" sum given to them by the city. I can only assume that as you kniw how they work that you must work for Divvy. If they only knew what a great job of PR you are doing for them...said no one ever. Sarcasm aside, I'm impressed with this ability to see how they REALLY work over there. Again, have you spoken with anyone besides yourself or checked their websites for any status updates? If this continues thruought the weekend I might start to be expectant for more disclosure but at this point all you have is conjecture & attitude.
Permalink Reply by Tom Dworzanski on January 3, 2014 at 6:49am

Yes. And all I here are (wait for it . . . )


Crickets! Crickets!

;) lol

Carrie Hirsch said:

Again, have you spoken with anyone besides yourself or checked their websites for any status updates?
Permalink Reply by Eli on January 3, 2014 at 6:51am

For crying out loud, is everybody's Google broken today? Here is the contract. It is for $65 million dollars over five years. I don't think that's an outrageous amount but I think it's enough that Alta should have to provide some kind of explanation as to when, why, how often, and for how long they plan to just shut things down beyond waving around the term "severe weather" which obviously doesn't mean the same thing to them as it does to me, since it's sunny, stopped snowing 12+ hours ago, temperatures are within normal winter range, and even my dinky one-way side street that always gets plowed dead last is completely clear, and yet Divvy remains shutdown with no ETA for restoration of service.

Permalink Reply by pistola on January 3, 2014 at 6:55am

If a Divvy bike could be raced in a cyclocross race through snow, ice, and sand (in a suit with dress shoes), I'm pretty sure it could've handled conditions yesterday or today quite well.

Citi bike in NYC is planning on staying open during the blizzard, the same blizzard as we just had.  We'll see how that works out for them.

citi bike snow

http://thevillager.com/2014/01/02/bike-share-to-keep-rolling-in-bli...

Any bettors out there?

 

Secondly, I had no idea that snowstorms get named now also!

 

Permalink Reply by Rich S on January 3, 2014 at 6:57am

Revenue is needed to generate profit. And that revenue needs to exceeds expenses. By shutting down they are stagnant ... neither generating revenue via 24 pass sales and late fees nor cost by maintaining the network. So it's not like they're reaping some huge windfall of cash. 

Now would daily pass sales from yesterday and today exceed the cost of maintaining the system? I don't know. All I can say is I took the bus to work yesterday and would likely have taken a Divvy home. So that's one daily pass they didn't sell. It's going to cost a lot of labor hours to clear the stations of snow but they're going to have to do so sooner or later. The longer they wait the less revenue they generate by not selling passes or collecting late fees. 

Someone else commented that if someone is that dedicated then they should have a bike for this weather. I live in a studio and already have 3 bikes. It's not practical for me to cram in a 4th bike to be used 10 days out of the year. Divvy bikes are great for crappy weather since they're heavy and have big tires. 



Tom Dworzanski said:

Business don't typically make money by shutting down. (They may prevent loss by shutting down, of course.) Divvy literally makes money (as in a profit) by shutting down in the savings the retain that would otherwise be spent on running the system.


Permalink Reply by Tom Dworzanski on January 3, 2014 at 7:03am

Ugh.

Rich S said:

Now would daily pass sales from yesterday and today exceed the cost of maintaining the system? I don't know.

Permalink Reply by Eli on January 3, 2014 at 7:04am

Last post on Divvy Facebook: "We'll provide updates later this morning regarding re-opening of stations." The morning has come and gone; there have been no updates.

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