… They know more people are biking,” Shanna said. “It cuts back on gas expenses, and new prices are not sustainable because Divvy will continue to increase. The company also lowered the unlock fees for casual riders to $1 to reduce barriers to entry for short trips. Those with the discounted membership still pay 5 cents per minute for e-bike trips and now have a $10 a month e-bike fee credit for the next year. The updated pricing structure also has benefits for riders like Shanna. She recently got a car and cut down on her Divvy use, but she plans to switch back to e-bikes more often with high gas prices and summer around the corner. It was the most affordable transit option with her annual $5 Divvy for Everyone discounted membership. Shanna, a South Shore resident who didn’t want to give her last name, used to ride Divvy’s electric bikes to attend protests and visit friends. Even $10 is pretty outrageous for a member. $25 is a little steep for a one hour bike ride, don’t you think ? Metra and CTA are both < $3 for this route. Lucy said the couple is looking into buying their own e-bikes and may cancel their membership due to the price increases. Her partner, Steven Lucy, posted a screenshot of the ride on Twitter, which ignited a discussion about Divvy’s updated policy.
The ride would have been nearly $25 for non-members, while a Metra and CTA trip for the same one-way trip would be $6 or less. The price changes were implemented May 10, raising costs for riders with and without memberships, bicyclists said.Ī medical student who bikes the Lakefront Trail from Hyde Park to Streeterville daily recently spent almost $10 for an hour-long e-bike commute. “That’s not going to be the case for a lot of people if it continues to be this expensive and if it’s this hard to get a base bike.” Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago A person rides a Divvy bike at the Six Corners in Portage Park on March 30, 2021. … It was supposed to supplement where the gaps in our transportation system,” said Christina Whitehouse, founder of bicyclist advocacy group Bike Lane Uprising and a former Divvy user. “The intention was for this to be public transportation, access to opportunity. Lyft, which operates Divvy, made the pricing changes to simplify the cost structure for e-bikes, but “we don’t want anyone to feel like they are being priced out of the system,” spokesperson Colin Wright said.īut some say that’s exactly what’s happening.
Some also said they’re having a harder time finding non-electric blue bikes when they do, they often are too poorly maintained to use. Some said they are switching to their own bikes, buying normal bikes or e-bikes, taking ride shares or going back to the CTA. Hightower is among several bicyclists who have canceled Divvy memberships or scaled back Divvy use in favor of other options. “Unless they reinstate the zone pricing they had before, I will not be using Divvy any longer.” “I will use my own bike now or the CTA as a result,” Hightower said. Paying $7 a day on top of the membership means Divvy is no longer financially feasible for any of Hightower’s commutes, he said. It also increased per-minute fees for e-bikes, added a lock fee for non-members and raised annual memberships from $108 to $119. But Divvy’s new pricing structure eliminates the waiver zones for e-bikes, making longer rides more expensive. Hightower’s 5-mile commute from Avondale took him through the city’s fee “waiver zones,” giving him 45 minutes on the bike at no extra cost before per-minute pricing began. CHICAGO - Mike Hightower began using Divvy’s electric bikes about a year ago and “fell in love” with the bike program, signing up for an annual membership.
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