Blue Cross And Blue Shield Of Illinois Agrees To 5 Year, $12.5 Million Divvy Sponsorship
By Lisa White in News on May 1, 2014 7:35PM
In a move that seems “duh, why haven’t they thought of that already,” it was announced at a news conference earlier today that Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois will now sponsor the Divvy bike program. The $12.5 million, five-year sponsorship will help expand the Divvy program across the city while also helping to maintain the current bikes, improve and maintain bike lanes and encourage cycling in all neighborhoods, according to the office of Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
This is great news for Divvy members after information came to light earlier this year that the original Divvy bike suppliers had filed for bankruptcy. Despite that the program has been swiftly moving along, passing the million ride mark, setting a new one-day record for use and most recently announcing an expansion in the South Shore area. Soon the Divvy bikes will be outfitted with the Blue Cross and Blue Shield insignia. We’re not surprised by the sponsorship and given the nature of the industry Blue Cross and Blue Shield works within, it makes perfect sense. Riding a bike can definitely help with your health and if you stupidly decide to ride your Divvy on say, Lake Shore Drive, and end up hurt, you might end up giving Blue Cross and Blue Shield a call as well.
The Sun-Times reports that Emanuel says the sponsorship deal will make certain that “every part of the city participates” in the program:
"This sponsorship allows us to continue to expand Divvy throughout the city of Chicago, making sure first and foremost that our residents use it as a new way to commute to work. It also makes sure that those come to visit our city....can ride Divvy and experience our neighborhoods, our lakefront — everything that we so much enjoy throughout the year — as they come to visit our city."
We’ll believe that the city is fully Divvy friendly when we see it but it’s a nice goal to work towards. Now how about creating a way of making sure people don’t ride on the sidewalks and maybe finding a way to work some sort of helmet protection into the Divvy brand?