Divvy Bike Share Coming to Oak Park

Divvy bikes are coming to Oak Park. 

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced Wednesday that the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) secured an additional $3 million federal grant to fund the installation of 75 additional neighborhood Divvy bike share stations next year, and has applied for a grant that would expand the program to Oak Park and Evanston, according to a news release from CDOT. 

Correction: The $3 million grant CDOT has secured is for 75 stations in Chicago. CDOT has applied for a grant to help fund the installation of stations in Oak Park and Evanston. While CDOT has announced the program is expanding to Oak Park and Evanston, the grant money has not yet been secured. We apologize for any confusion. 

“Chicagoans have thoroughly embraced Divvy and the idea of bike sharing as part of their everyday commutes,” said Mayor Rahm Emanuel. “These additional resources will allow us to extend the system so even more residents and visitors can use this new transit system to get around the city and its neighborhoods.”

The new $3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) Program will help fund 75 stations beyond the 100 that are planned for installation next spring, which were funded through a $4 million Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant from the USDOT.

To date, the USDOT has provided a total of $25 million in CMAQ and TIGER grant funds to finance the purchase Divvy bike stations and bikes.

There are currently 300 stations in operation in Chicago, 331 Citi Bike stations in New York City and 434 BIXI bike share stations in Montreal. Once the funded stations are ordered and installed next year, Divvy will become the largest bike share operation in North America with 475 stations, and will be the fifth largest bike sharing system in the world.

CDOT also announced it has applied for a $3 million Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program (ITEP) grant through the State of Illinois for 75 additional stations to further expand Divvy to the borders of Chicago and into Oak Park and Evanston.

Oak Park officials voted in August on a resolution to apply with the City of Chicago and City of Evanston for a Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21) Transportation Alternatives Program grant to fund 80 percent of the program's capital costs. 

Oak Park's local match for the grant would be 20 percent of capital costs, or $161,177, to deploy 12 Divvy stations in Oak Park. The estimated annual operating cost is $230,000, with estimated annual revenue of $168,800, according to a village staff memo. 

In the four months since launching, the citywide bike share system has provided 650,000 trips to Chicago residents and visitors who have collectively ridden more than 1.5 million miles.  Divvy has sold more than 125,000 daily passes and 11,000 annual memberships.

“As Divvy expands into more neighborhoods, and we build a 650-mile bikeway network throughout our communities, Chicago is quickly becoming the best biking city in North America,” said CDOT Commissioner Gabe Klein.  “A large bike sharing system with better cycling infrastructure will encourage more Chicagoans to use bicycles as a regular means of transportation.”

Chicagoans can find out more about the system at www.DivvyBikes.com or through social media on Twitter at @DivvyBikes and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/DivvyBikes.

Information courtesy of a news release from the Chicago Department of Transportation. 

Related: Divvy Bike Share Could Come to Oak Park