CDOT, Divvy to expand bike share program to Chicago's Far South Side

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The Chicago Department of Transportation in partnership with Lyft rideshare service will announce Thursday the popular Divvy bike share system will be expanded to Far South Side neighborhoods.

Officials said 66 new Divvy stations will expand the program by nearly 60-square miles throughout the Far South Side.

CDOT will also be adding 16.5 miles of new bike lanes in those neighborhoods.

The first station will be installed Thursday at W. 83rd Street and S. Stewart Avenue in the West Chatham neighborhood.

It's the first step toward a citywide expansion that plans to bring Divvy stations to every Chicago neighborhood by 2021. The expansion also includes the addition of 10,500 new electric-assist bikes.

Divvy currently has 6,000 bikes, and 600 docking stations across Chicago.

Data shows in 2019, 51% of all trips in Chicago were less than three miles, a distance that can be comfortably cycled.

An annual membership costs $99 and allows an unlimited number of rides of 45 minutes or less. The Divvy for Everyone program provides heavily discounted, $5 membership for qualifying Chicagoans, including those without a credit or debit cards.

For more information about Divvy offers, go to divvybikes.com.