1. At my current pace, by the time winter rolls around (and assuming I do not use the service over the winter), the service will have cost me about $0.35 per ride compared with $2.25 per ride for CTA or $4.25 per ride for Metra.
2. In the central loop and near north area, you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a Divvy station.
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| Roosevelt to North/ Halsted to the Lakefront |
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| North to Peterson/ Western to the Lakefront |
The station density remains high as you go north of North Avenue up to Peterson and west to Western Avenue, but drops off as you go south of Roosevelt toward Hyde Park.
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| South of Cermak |
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| West of Western/ North of Cermak |
3. The station works intuitively for a member with the key fob, and takes only a bit more doing for a one-time rider who have to pay by credit card then enter a code at the dock for the bike they want. (This is based upon my survey of people taking one-time rides, and my one-time use of the similar stations in the Toronto bike-share program.) The bikes, however, have significant weight and require the user to lift them out of the dock. I do not have enough sample size to determine if there is a size of person that this would restrict from safely using them, but it is not easy.
4. Do NOT use Divvy if you have a time-sensitive appointment. If you return a bike to a station that has no open docks, then you have to go to a nearby station, which depending on the location could be two blocks, a half-mile, or a mile. If you do this, get on the phone with Divvy immediately so that you stop the clock on your ride to avoid overages. Also, the map at each station tells you which stations are close, but not which stations have openings, which leads to....
5. Effective use of the system for more than just casual recreation almost requires a smartphone with station app. When I get off the Metra train at LaSalle Street Station, I have only two stations within reasonable walking distance, and one of them regularly has no bikes at it after a certain time in the morning. As the train pulls in, I look to see which one has bikes, and then I can plan accordingly. Without that, I would be scrambling to find bikes. At the end of my commute, I need to do the same to see which of the two stations near my office have spaces available. Supposedly, if you cannot find spaces at the stations nearest your office, you can leave the bike in a secure location of your building and Divvy will pick it up (the only secure location in my building is on the 5th floor, so I have not tested it), but it's a hassle to have to visit multiple stations before finding that out. Without the app, you need to get on the phone with Divvy to find out that information. That leads me to...
6. The station information is often inaccurate. This inaccuracy comes almost exclusively from repair issues: docked bikes that do not work but show up as available, and docks that show as open but cannot accept bikes due to a failure. Even the phone support staff cannot always see the difference between a failed dock or bike and a functioning one. I ran into the unfortunate circumstance where I showed up at a station with a failed dock, but was told there was space available by phone support. When I travelled to the next closest station, I ended up in the same circumstance, and all that they could do was point me toward the next closest station to that one. I ultimately ended up a half-mile from my destination, which was right next to the original station (and the primary reason I chose to use Divvy over another mode of transport).
7. With regard to phone support, they have the ability to immediately stop the clock and help you avoid overages, but they can do little else. When I got caught in the pickle above, and asked if they could do the workplace pickup for me at the client meeting I had, they said the best they could offer was to get a truck to me in "a couple of hours" and that I could not leave the bike even in a secure location. The only help they could provide was to keep pushing me further and further from my destination until we found a station with space.
All in all, Divvy provides an adequate commuting option, and probably a more-than-adequate leisure cruise for the tourist. The bikes will win no land-speed races, but I have had 100% success with finding a functioning bike, and about 85% success in finding my first choice of station (with the help of the app). I would not recommend the bike for middle of the day rides to time sensitive events (like doctor's appointments or client meetings). The bikes tend to flow with the north side commuter, and so they end up largely in the city center, leaving few spaces to park them. You are better off on the CTA, walking, or even cabbing if time is of the essence. If you have time to spare, or if you are following normal commuting patterns (especially those of the north side or west-suburban commuter), then you can reliably make it to your destination on time, even during peak travel periods. I highly recommend the app to make that easier, but for that purpose, you can get by without it.
I look forward to Divvy expanding into more neighborhoods to make it a true citywide service. I also expect that they will get better with managing the information within the system to avoid some of the empty and full station issues. As a Chicagoan, I take a little pride in the fact that we have started off so well, but much work remains.
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