Divvy, the bike sharing service, recently announced that it plans this month to begin the installation of another 176 stations and 1,750 bikes throughout the Chicago area. Divvy will be doubling its service area from “covering 19 percent of the city’s geographic area to more than 38 percent of the city’s geographic area under the expansion,” said Sean Wiedel, assistant commissioner in the city’s department of transportation, as quoted by Red Eye.
Oak Park was to be included in this most recent expansion. Last year, former Gov. Pat Quinn approved a $3 million state grant to expand the bike-sharing program to Oak Park and Evanston, with the former to receive 12 docking stations. The village, along with Evanston, was to contribute a portion of $200,000 in matching funds.
But maps of the new stations published by the Chicago Tribune and on Divvy’s website last month show Oak Park barren of the new stations. All of the new stations shown on the maps are planned for areas in the city, east of Pulaski Road and closer to the Near West Side.
So far, there’s been no explanation for why Oak Park may have been excluded from Divvy’s most recent phase of expansion when it had originally been earmarked to receive the stations. Officials from Divvy and the village weren’t available for comment.
David Poppie, a trustee for Oak Park-based Greenline Wheels, 105 S. Marion St., a similar bike-sharing service, said he was looking forward to the Divvy expansion.
“I’m all for it,” Poppie said. “I’m all for getting more people on the roads and on bicycles. I understand this is the second time they were supposed to come into the area.”
Poppie said that although Divvy might appear to some as his competitor, he doesn’t see it that way.
“I don’t see it affecting my business,” he said. “My clientele are locals and tourists alike and we’re more specialized. Divvy rents one type of bicycle, we rent many. We have specialty bikes.”
Poppie did say that the Divvy service could potentially be a boon to Oak Park’s larger business climate.
“As a community, if we can get people more active I think the better,” he said. “If we get more people on bikes, there’s more opportunity for local businesses to get business with that bike traffic. I’m hoping the village will see this and maybe even add some new bike lanes.”
CONTACT: michael@oakpark.com