Divvy

Today the Chicago Department of Transportation broke its silence on the subject.

Researchers interviewed bike-share users in Bronzeville, as well as NYC and Philly, to identify barriers to bike-share use and strategies to broaden user demographics.

The new hardware will be used to increase density in communities with a dearth of Divvy, as well as add capacity to popular downtown stations.

Along with Philadelphia’s and New York’s bike-share systems, Portland State University researchers have been studying Divvy system, looking at the barriers to riding for low-income individuals and people of color. Meanwhile, CDOT announce this year's adult bike riding classes geared towards new Divvy users.

However, while the national bike-share revolution has made cycling accessible and affordable to a wider swath of the population, municipal rental networks have been geared almost exclusively toward able-bodied riders. That's about to change in June, when Portland, Oregon, will launch an adaptive bike rental program as an extension of its Biketown bike-share system. Detroit is currently planning a similar approach. Local disability and bike advocates say Chicago should also get with the program and add an accessibility component to the Divvy network.

There are plenty of deals and incentives to try bike-share, or get back in the saddle if it’s been a while.

If you rode bike-share in Chicago between Thursday morning and last night, give your self a pat on the back for helping Divvy make history.

Take a photo during your next bike-share trip, post it on Twitter with the hashtag #DivvyMillionaire, and tag @StreetsblogCHI. We'll run the best pix in an upcoming post.

This morning the parents of fallen cyclist Virginia “Ginny” Murray, fatally struck by a flatbed truck driver on July 1, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the driver and his company, A&B Flooring Supplies. The family’s attorney says safer bike infrastructure could have helped prevent the crash.