Divvy lunch date now just days away

As more people around the globe migrate back to urban areas, 'smarter cities' are exploring any and every option to anticipate and relieve expected future conditions of heightened congestion and greater air pollution. In downtown Chicago, one public-private response is Divvy, which bills itself as the city's "newest transit system" and may also be the built environment's friendliest.

On Thursday, January 15, Divvy GM Elliot Greenberger and CDOT Asst. Commissioner Sean Wiedel will visit BuiltWorlds for an informative luncheon and informal discussion about this expanding program. Seating is limited, but tickets are still available. For more information, click here.

ABOUT DIVVY

DIV∙VY \ DIVĒ

1. To divide and share

2. Chicago's new bike share system

Divvy is Chicago’s bike sharing system with 3,000 bikes and 300 stations across the city. Intended to provide Chicagoans with an additional transportation option for getting around the city, Divvy is fun, easy, and affordable.

A bike sharing system consists of a fleet of specially designed, heavy-duty, very durable bikes that are locked into a network of docking stations located throughout a city. Divvy bikes can be rented from and returned to any station in the system, creating an efficient network with many possible combinations of start and end points.

“2014 was quite a year for Divvy! We doubled our annual membership from 11,000 to 23,000 members!”

— DivvyBikes.com

With thousands of bikes at hundreds of stations, Divvy will be available for use 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The station network will provide twice as many docking points as bicycles, assuring that an available dock to return your bike is always nearby.

ABOUT THE OWNER

Divvy is a program of the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT), which owns all of the system’s bikes, stations and vehicles. Initial funding for the program comes from federal grants for projects that promote economic recovery, reduce traffic congestion and improve air quality, as well as additional funds from the City’s Tax Increment Financing program.

CDOT’s mission is to keep the city’s surface transportation networks and public way safe for users, environmentally sustainable, in a state of good repair and attractive, so that its diverse residents, businesses and guests all enjoy a variety of quality transportation options, regardless of ability or destination.

CDOT’s vision is to ensure that Chicago continues to be a vibrant international city, successfully competing in the global economy with a transportation system that provides high-quality service to residents, businesses, and visitors—a system that offers a solid foundation for the city, regional and national economies, yet is sensitive to its communities and environment.

ABOUT THE OPERATOR

Divvy is operated by Alta Bicycle Share, Inc., an American firm that is the only company in the world focused on operating large-scale bike share systems. Alta designed, launched, and operates Capital Bikeshare in Washington DC and Arlington VA, Hubway in Boston, Citi Bike in New York, Bay Area Bike Share in the San Francisco Bay Area, Melbourne Bike Share in Melbourne Australia, CoGo Bike Share in Columbus OH and Bike Chattanooga in Chattanooga TN.

ABOUT divvy's SPONSOR

With 7.8 million members, BCBSIL, is a division of Health Care Service Corporation, a Mutual Legal Reserve Company, and is the largest and oldest health insurance company in Illinois. Begun in 1936 in Chicago, BCBSIL remains member owned rather than publicly traded, and is committed to promoting the health and wellness of its members and its communities, fostering greater access to care, and working to lower the overall cost of care while improving the health care quality and patient outcomes.

ABOUT THE MANUFACTURER

Public Bike System Company (PBSC, also known as Bixi) created the first large-scale solar-power bikeshare system in the world, launching their 3,000 bike system in Montreal in 2008 (it has expanded to 5,000 bikes since). It is portable, wirelessly integrated and sturdy enough to handle the demands of Chicago’s urban environment. PBSC is Alta Bicycle Share’s supplier in bringing best-in-class technology and equipment to bike share systems that it operates around the world including Melbourne, AU; New York City, NY; Washington, D.C; San Francisco, CA; and Boston, MA. Over 14,600 PBSC bikes are used every day, across the globe.

In 2008, the PBSC Bike Share System was named the 19th Best Invention of 2008 by Time Magazine – only 1 place behind the NASA Mars Mission Rover. In addition, PBSC has also recently been awarded the GOLD Award for best product of 2009 in the Energy & Sustainability category of the prestigious Edison Best New Products Awards. In 2009, PBSC won the Bronze Prize (transport category) from the International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA). In 2011, PBSC was also awarded the Good Design gold medal for environmental products. The Good Design Award is the World's Most Prestigious Global Awards for New Product Design and Graphics. It is awarded by the Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design and the European Center for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.

For more information, click here.