Meeting Riders Where They Are: Divvy’s Community Team, One Block at a Time

About three years ago, Sam stopped by a Divvy table at a community event. A Divvy team member helped him sign up for Divvy for Everyone (D4E) on the spot. Before that day, Sam mostly walked or took public transportation to get around Chicago. Today, he rides Divvy every day from his neighborhood near Little Village to his job downtown.

“I use Divvy every day to get to work downtown,” Sam says. “I can skip the traffic, and it usually costs me less than $1.50 a day. It’s been an easy, affordable way to get to work.”

Stories like Sam’s are why Divvy’s community organizing team keeps showing up in neighborhoods across Chicago. D4E offers income-qualified residents a Divvy membership for just $5 a year. Members ride classic bikes free for up to 45 minutes, and ebikes and scooters cost just 5 and 10 cents per minute.

Spreading the word about D4E is at the heart of the community team’s work. When residents learn they may qualify for a $5 membership, Erendira Garcia, one of Divvy’s community organizers, says the conversation often ends with them signing up.

An affordable alternative for daily commutes

Like Sam, many of the residents Erendira meets rely on bikes for regular trips, not just the occasional ride. “It’s a constant mode of transportation for many members,” she says. For these D4E members, an affordable option for getting to work, school, and errands makes a tangible difference.

Showing up across the city

In just six weeks this summer, Divvy community organizers attended more than 50+ events, from a health fair in Austin to a bike rodeo in South Shore, to meet Chicagoans where they are and get the word out about affordable riding options. Those conversations add up. Since January 2026, the team has signed up over 830 new D4E members, and active membership now stands at nearly 2,900.

Some of the season’s most meaningful moments took place on the South Side. In August, Divvy joined the Bud Billiken Parade, one of the South Side’s most beloved traditions. Divvy also took part in the 8th Annual Historic Bike Tour through Bronzeville and Bridgeport, which visited sites connected to the 1919 Chicago Race Riot and marked the completion of all 38 community-created artistic markers along the route. In September, Divvy joined riders for the 8th Annual BUFI Bike The Shore for Ujima, An eight-mile ride through South Shore co-presented by the Black United Fund of Illinois and Equiticity.

Listening as much as talking

Outreach is also a chance to hear from residents. At events, people share questions about bike options, how comfortable they feel riding an ebike, and what safer biking infrastructure would mean for their neighborhoods. That feedback helps the team understand what residents need and where the conversation should go next.

Rooted in the community

Divvy’s community organizers are local hires with deep ties to the neighborhoods they serve. They work alongside partners residents already know and trust, including Equiticity, BUILD Chicago, QCDC, the Black United Fund of Illinois, Bebe’s Ark, the Chicago Park District, and CDOT’s Safe Ambassadors.

What comes next

As new stations come to the South Side, Erendira and the rest of the team will keep doing what’s worked: showing up, answering questions, and making sure every Chicagoan who qualifies for D4E knows it’s there for them. Every new member, like Sam, started with a single conversation.

Think you might qualify for Divvy for Everyone? Learn more and apply at here.