Divvy bikes at a bike-share station. Photo: DimiTalen, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Evanston’s bike-share map has more than doubled in a few months, and the early numbers suggest people are using it. The city will hold a ribbon-cutting for its Divvy expansion at 10 a.m. Monday, Nov. 16, at the new station at Maple Avenue and Grove Street, outside the McGaw YMCA.
The Cook County-supported project adds 18 stations, and 15 are in the ground, according to a city announcement published by the Evanston RoundTable. Three are still to come: Ryan Field, Beck Park and the Evanston Ecology Center. When they are done, Evanston will have 32 Divvy stations with about 130 classic bikes and roughly 100 e-bikes.
Where the new docks are
The installed stations are spread across town, with several at CTA stops so riders can finish a trip by bike:
- Noyes, Foster, Dempster and South Boulevard CTA stations
- Bent Park, Harbert Payne Park, Arrington Lagoon and Burnham Shores Park
- Clark Street Beach
- Orrington Avenue and Clark Street
- Maple Avenue and Grove Street
- Ashland Avenue and Payne Street
- Dodge Avenue and Lake Street
- Grove Street and Chicago Avenue
- Sheridan Road and Foster Street
The new stations come in 6-, 8- and 12-dock sizes. The project also moved some of Evanston’s original 15-dock stations to busier spots, Patch reported. The overall fleet size stays the same, but residents asked for cheaper rides, so the mix is shifting toward more pedal bikes, which cost less to rent than e-bikes.
Ridership is up
The first stations in the expansion opened in late July. From Aug. 1 through Oct. 28, riders took 17,543 trips that ended at an Evanston Divvy station, a 53% increase over the same stretch of 2025, according to Divvy trip data from Lyft that the city released. Trips were up in every month: 44% in August, 33% in September and 82% in October.
The city pointed to one detail in particular. Trips ending at Evanston’s 14 original stations held roughly steady compared with last year. That suggests the new docks are producing new rides rather than pulling riders away from the old ones.
“Divvy has been part of the fabric of Evanston since 2016, and this expansion makes the system more convenient and reliable than ever for residents across the community,” Divvy general manager Sean Madison said in the city’s announcement.
A decade of Divvy in Evanston
Divvy crossed the city line in June 2016 with 10 stations and 100 bikes. The planning started well before that. In early 2015, the city asked residents to weigh in on where to put its first eight stations and opened station sponsorships to local businesses.
The 2026 expansion reaches parts of town the first stations didn’t. Inland neighborhoods gain docks at Dodge and Lake, Ashland and Payne, and Harbert Payne Park. The lakefront picks up Clark Street Beach and Burnham Shores. The four CTA stations on the list, all on the Purple Line, give commuters a way to cover the last stretch between the train and home or work.
The pending Ryan Field station will put a dock at Northwestern’s football stadium on Central Street.
If you go
Monday’s ribbon-cutting is at the Maple and Grove station, across from the McGaw YMCA, at 10 a.m. The city’s Divvy program page has station information and details on Divvy for Everyone, the reduced-fare membership for income-eligible residents.
Riders can unlock bikes through the Divvy or Lyft apps.
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Daniel Okafor covers business, startups and the Innovators section for The Evanston Edge.
