Divvy Bikes by the numbers: 14.8 million rides over five years

As Chicago marks the fifth anniversary of Divvy, the blue bikes have become a regular sight in Chicago, with over 14.8 million rides being taken on the bike-share program between its inception on June 28, 2013 to May 31 of this year.

Last month, the service provided its 15-millionth ride.

We dove into the data behind every one of those rides. Here’s a look at where people are riding, who is riding and how the service has grown over five years.

Between June 2013 and May 2014, there were 1.3 million Divvy rides. Between June 2017 and May 2018, there were 3.5 million rides, a 169 percent increase from its first year.

As expected, people tend to ride more in the summer. The most popular month of Divvy rides ever was July 2017, when 565,142 rides were taken.

While weather regularly plays a factor in how many rides are taken in a given month, annual ridership has been generally rising. In May, 400,999 rides were taken, a 15 percent increase from the previous May.

Most rides are taken by Divvy subscribers who can take unlimited 45-minute rides during the course of a year. In the past year, 72 percent of rides were taken by such members compared with 28 percent of rides by one-off riders.

The winter months are reserved for Divvy’s hardcore users, with the share of subscribers accounting for 96.5 percent of the 109,451 rides taken in January.

Divvy provides some demographic data on their subscribers, including gender. Based on the data, 24 percent of subscriber rides are taken by female cyclists.

The time of year also has a role in how long people take Divvy rides. The average ride this past January lasted 10.5 minutes. In May, that number nearly doubled to 20.4 minutes.

Since Divvy’s launch in 2013, riders have taken 4,123,513 hours worth of rides, enough time to watch all 10 Star Wars films through 183,000 times.

Most of Divvy’s most-popular stations are located Downtown. Here’s the list of the top 10 stations by ridership between June 2017 to May 2018:

1. Streeter Dr. and Grand Ave. (84,936 rides started here)
2. Canal St. and Adams St. (56,030)
3. Clinton St. and Washington Blvd. (48,885)
4. Lake Shore Dr. and Monroe St. (46,179)
5. Clinton St. and Madison St. (43,500)
6. Lake Shore Dr. and North Blvd. (41,564)
7. Theater on the Lake (41,555)
8. Columbus Dr. and Randolph St. (37,115)
9. Michigan Ave. and Washington St. (35,467)
10. Michigan Ave. and Oak St. (34,956)

Divvy has stations throughout the Downtown area, with stations stretching as far as Austin to the west, Evanston to the north and 83rd Street to the south.

Go to the map to see how many people take rides at your station.