CHICAGO — Divvy, the city's bike-sharing network, remained shut down Friday morning, but its operators announced it would be back to business as usual Saturday.
The system shut down at noon Thursday because of the weather, marking the first time the bikes were unavailable since the service debuted in June.
"Good morning. The system is still unavailable at the moment," Divvy tweeted at 7:44 a.m. Friday. "We'll provide updates later this morning regarding reopening of stations."
On Friday, Divvy posted an update online telling customers the stations would reopen Saturday at noon "unless the weather worsens significantly."
"Given that this is the first time we’ve closed the system, we want to ensure stations are clear of snow and fully operational," according to Divvy.
Divvy prepared for winter by reducing the number of bikes available at stations, and its operators told DNAinfo Chicago in October that the stations would close for "severe storms."
"Riders in the middle of trips will still be able to return bikes to stations, but won't be able to take bikes out," Elliot Greenberger, a spokesman for the bike-sharing company said at the time.
Greenberger said there is "no hard-and-fast rule" to determine when the bike-sharing program would be shut down; the determination is based on overall conditions.
Divvy officials explained the two snow days by saying they want to "look out for our riders and our staff when conditions might make riding and serving the system dangerous."
People have been using the bikes despite the cold and snowy season. In a statement, Divvy said nearly 45,000 trips were taken in December.
Anyone with questions about the availability of Divvy bikes is asked to call 1-855-55-DIVVY, or watch for updates on the Divvy website.
