CHICAGO – The Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) and its Divvy bike share partner Lyft today announced that Divvy has recorded over 4 million rides in 2021, surpassing its previous ridership record of 3.81 million rides set in 2019 with three months to go in the year. The new record comes at a time when Divvy is in the midst of its citywide expansion and CDOT is making major investments in new bikeways funded through Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot’s Chicago Works capital plan. 

“We are thrilled that Chicago’s bikeshare system, Divvy, is continuing to grow in popularity and size and moving steadily toward serving the entire City of Chicago,” said CDOT Commissioner Gia Biagi. “The expansion of Divvy is happening in coordination with our record investments in new bikeways that are making it safer and easier for everyone to bike to the meaningful destinations in their neighborhoods.” 

This new record comes in a year when more Chicagoans than ever are riding bikes and using the city’s bikeshare system that continues to break ridership records. In 2021, riders have broken the Divvy single daily rides record three times (with the current daily record high of 36,853 set on August 14) and has had its best month, year over year, for every month so far this year since March. New monthly ridership records were set in July and August with more than 800,000 rides each month and summer ridership was up 30% from last summer.  

“The way people get around Chicago is changing, and this new annual record shows Divvy’s resilience as it has become an increasingly important solution for the transportation needs of riders,” said Tamara Conway, General Manager of Divvy at Lyft. “Together with our partners in Mayor Lightfoot and CDOT, we continue to build a system that is flexible, convenient, and reliable, providing benefits to the entire city through reduced traffic congestion and carbon emissions.” 

Earlier this summer, CDOT and Lyft, the operator of Divvy, launched the next phase in the expansion of the city’s popular bikeshare system. It includes 107 new e-stations that are being installed in a 35-square mile area of the Southwest and Northwest Sides of the City. With the addition of new neighborhoods, Divvy will cover 190 square miles in Chicago, building on its status as the largest bikeshare system in North America by service area. Along with the service area expansion, Divvy is adding an additional 3,500 electric-assist bikes in Chicago this year, on top of the 3,500 e-bikes deployed in the first phase of the expansion in 2020.   

Earlier this week, CDOT announced it is undertaking the biggest bike lane expansion in the City’s history thanks to the infusion of funding from Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot’s Chicago Works capital plan. With a total of $17 million in new funding this year and next, CDOT is installing 100 miles of new and upgraded bike lanes in 2021 and 2022. This new bike infrastructure includes a focus on the South and West Sides in Austin, Belmont Cragin, and North Lawndale and is being coordinated with the expansion of Divvy. 

CDOT and Lyft aim to make Divvy affordable for all Chicagoans and offer low cost memberships for qualifying Chicagoans through the Divvy for Everyone (D4E) Program, which currently has 2,500 members, an all-time high.