The Chainlink

Divvy Overage Fees Total $4 Million - DNAinfo article (featuring a few Chainlink members)

Since Chicago's bike-sharing system Divvy began almost four years ago, users of the sky blue cruisers took nearly 10.7 million trips.

Not all of the riders completed their journeys within the allotted 30-minute limit.

Twelve percent of all Divvy trips to date exceeded the time window that riders must check the bikes back in to avoid "usage" or penalty fees, Divvy says.

More specifically, 8.8 percent (942,630) of all trips went over by 30 minutes, 2.2 percent (235,494) went over by 60 minutes and 1 percent (112,256) passed the 90-minute mark.

Most of the penalty trips — some 83 percent — were taken by people who bought a 24-hour pass, a popular option for tourists. The rest were taken by annual members, of which there are more than 34,000.

Full Article:

https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20170503/wicker-park/divvy-bike-sha...

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Last Friday, I was riding through Lincoln Park and met these ladies on their Divvy bikes. Of course, I had to take a pic of the Blackhawk Divvy (first one I'd seen) and we talked a little about their visit, the bikes, and their weekend plans. 

The lady on the Blackhawks Divvy is from Chicago and taking her out-of-town friend around the city. Riding a bike is the perfect tourist option for a sunny Friday afternoon. As we talked, they mentioned they went with the 24-hour "unlimited" option. And that's where it can get confusing for people that aren't familiar with the overage fees which reminded me that the 24-hour pass, usually reserved by people from out-of-town, is most commonly penalized with overage fees.

The two ladies had no idea there was a 30-minute limit. They got caught on the language of "unlimited" for 24-hours and didn't realize they needed to check in their bikes every 30 minutes. I'm wondering if this is why so many tourists receive overage fees. The language may be confusing. I must admit, I was confused back when I first learned about the 30 minute limit for an "unlimited" pass because it didn't seem intuitive to me (and the language contradicts itself).  

The website does have a lot of language that speaks to the 30-minute ride limits but there are a few pages that don't mention it as clearly:

https://www.divvybikes.com/how-it-works

It may be a bit of a stretch but given the historic overage with the 24-hour pass, I do wonder if there's an opportunity to communicate the 30-minute limit a little more effectively.

I agree that there is a lot of confusion. Whether one has a 24 hour pass, or a yearly membership, rides are limited to 30 minutes. Signage could be clearer.

I think Divvy is missing an opportunity for a true 24 hour unlimited pass. Of course they'd have to charge more, but it would beat nickel and diming people to death.

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