Divvy Bikes Coming to Evanston After Resolution Approved

EVANSTON, IL - Evanston will become part of the city of Chicago’s Divvy bike sharing program after aldermen voted 5-4 on Monday to approve a resolution to move forward with the plan, the Evanston Review reports.

The city received a $320,000 grant from the Illinois Department of Transportation to take part in the program, but Evanston will be on the hook for $80,000 of it, plus the nearly $600,000 it will cost to construct the stations. The city will see some of the proceeds from the usage of the program.

“The Divvy bikes are awesome, the Divvy bikes are fun, I just feel they cost too much,” said Don Wilson, 4th Ward Ald., one of four Council members to vote down the resolution.

When the program starts, there will be 80 bicycles stationed at eight docking stations in the city. An extra two will be at Northwestern University, but the school is footing the bill for those. Riders can use the bikes for up to 30 minutes before racking up higher fees and return them to any station in Evanston or Chicago.

The eight Evanston locations haven’t been set in stone, but aldermen last year approved tentative sites at the Central Street Metra and CTA stations, Sheridan Road, intersections of Church Street and Dodge Avenue and Dodge and Greenleaf Street, the Main Street CTA/Metra Station and Howard Street.

A similar expansion of the Divvy program was made in Oak Park.

more via the Evanston Review