By John Byrne
Chicago Tribune
Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration is hoping to increase the number of participants in the city’s bike sharing program by offering inexpensive, one-year Divvy memberships to low-income residents, though the powder-blue bicycles aren’t available to rent in several Chicago neighborhoods where many poor people live.
Annual memberships will be cut to $5 from $75 for single-person households with income below $35,310 per year under a program paid for with $75,000 over the next two years from both the nonprofit Better Bike Share Partnership and Divvy’s sponsor, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois, Emanuel said Tuesday.
The “Divvy for Everyone” program will only allow people to get the cheaper membership for one year. After that, they’d have to pay the regular rate, though Transportation Commissioner Rebekah Scheinfeld said the city will “be continuing to work to develop ways to graduate people into a second year at a full membership rate.” That might be allowing people to pay the $75 yearly fee in installments, she said.
The city hopes 750 low-income people sign up each of the next two years at the $5 rate, Scheinfeld said after joining Emanuel to announce the program in Bronzeville.
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