Chicago. We're the city that works. But we're also rapidly becoming the city that bikes to work. The recent explosion of dedicated bike lanes downtown(as well as of bikes downtown in general) are certainly indicators of a trend on the rise. And now with Mayor Emanuel's well-publicized support of the expansion of biking, it seems like all Chicagoans are on board with the ascent of the city biker(Well, with the exception of a certain well-known Tribune columnist). Just last summer biking in Chicago got a major shot in the arm with the introduction of the Divvy program in June of 2013. The program was inspired by a visit Richard M. Daley took to Paris in 2007. Being inspired by the bike-sharing system that the Parisians enjoyed, Daley decided that Chicago should have something similar. After a few delays, the program was up and running by the middle of last summer.
One little Easter Egg that came with the bikes was the inclusion of a single red bike amongst the fleet. Riders who find this bike and take a picture with it can potentially win an annual Divvy membership. The bikes were even planned to be made available over the winter, though given the severity of the weather, I'm not sure how many souls braved the elements. As the weather heats up again, the city is poised for an even more successful season of Divvying, especially with the city's compliment of stations rising to 400.
This is just the first in several biking related articles that will be popping up on this blog throughout the summer, make sure to periodically check back with us for more posts about biking in Chicago.
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