Could Divvy Be Expanded To Include People With Disabilities

         Although Rudy Winfrey says he’s “blind as a bat,” he regularly experiences     the joy of cycling. Winfrey, a 72-year-old clerk with the Chicago     Department of Streets & Sanitation, lost his sight in the 90s to     retinitis pigmentosa. Andy Slater, the visually impaired musician profiled last month in this column, has the same condition.



         However, while the national bike-share revolution has made cycling     accessible and affordable to a wider swath of the population, municipal     rental networks have been geared almost exclusively toward able-bodied     riders. That’s about to change in June, when Portland, Oregon, will launch     an adaptive bike rental program as an extension of its Biketown bike-share     system. Detroit is currently planning a similar approach. Local disability     and bike advocates say Chicago should also get with the program and add an     accessibility component to the Divvy network.





         Likewise, Active Transportation Alliance director Ron Burke says his     organization would get behind a plan to make Divvy more accessible. “A     publicly supported system should be available for people living with     disabilities,” he says. “We’re eager to learn from the experiences of     Portland and other cities that are piloting similar programs to help     determine the best approach, and then work with Chicago Department of     Transportation to make that happen.”



         “I’m sure Chicagoans living with disabilities would appreciate the     opportunity to use their city’s bike-sharing program,” Duckworth said in a     statement. “I hope the Divvy program looks into the possibility.”