In a move likely targeting tourists, the one-day fare for Divvy bikes is jumping from $7 to $9.95.
According to the Chicago Tribune, annual memberships will remain at $75 for unlimited rides of 30 minutes or less. The increase in the daily pricing is expected to raise an additional $800,000 in revenue for Motivate, the company that runs the bikeshare service as well as the Citi Bike program in New York City.
Divvy was launched at a time when big cities were just beginning to launch bike-share programs, and many of the financial predictions we made were based on other industries, without having a direct precedent to look to in the bike-share world, the city said in a statement. … We expect that as the bike-share industry matures, we will be able to attract even more revenue in this manner.
The move is intended to help stabilize the service’s operating budget and support self-sustainability. The program was started in 2013 and, while gaining in popularity, has had trouble maintaining financial viability, one of the stated goals when the program was started in part with $30 million in federal funding. A $500,000 operating loss was posted in 2014.
The expected announcement of the fare increase by city officials Friday comes just days after a price drop program for low income riders was launched.
Divvy has been expanding in the city with plans to have 476 stations and nearly 4,800 bikes.
