ENGLEWOOD — Bike-sharing has come to Englewood.
Divvy, a bike-sharing system, is expanding its program to an additional 176 locations this spring, which soon will include 60 Divvy bikes available to Englewood residents at six stations.
Mike Claffey, a spokesman for the city's Department of Transportation, said Divvy has installed stations in Englewood at Halsted and 69th streets, Halsted and Garfield Boulevard, Princeton Street and Garfield, and Halsted and 63rd streets. He said that two more locations — Wentworth Avenue and 63rd, and Perry and 69th streets — will receive bikes, too.
Riders can pay $7 a day or $75 for a yearlong membership, while students pay $55 for a membership. Members can ride the bikes for the first half-hour for free. Additional charges apply after that.
Residents and community leaders said they were thrilled with the expansion.
Andrea NaTay, owner of Forever Fitness Chicago, described the news as “awesome.”
This "is an opportunity for residents to engage in more physical activity,” NaTay, 34, said. “Greater Englewood is comprised of 98 percent African-Americans and, sadly, nearly half of African-Americans are obese.”
She said that the black community experiences a higher rate of diabetes, heart disease and certain types of cancer than any other ethnic group.
“In order for those statistics to improve, we must increase our physical activity and consume more fruits and vegetables, so thankfully, availability and accessibility of fitness and nutrition is migrating to Greater Englewood,” said NaTay, who hosted Englewood’s first “Ditch the Weight & Guns" Englewood 5K Walk & Run" last year.
Slow Roll Chicago co-founder Olatunji Oboi Reed, who organizes weekly community bike rides from April through October, said Divvy's expansion to Englewood was “great news."
“The program is a form of public transportation, a public resource, that everybody should [have] access to, including communities of color and low-to-moderate-income communities,” Reed said. “We believe that those communities should have access to bikes as a form of transportation.”
Having Divvy also can help bring jobs to the community, Reed said.
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