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- The daily fee to rent a Divvy bike will jump by more than 40 percent next week because of a deficit and escalating costs to run the expanding bicycle-sharing system, officials are set to announce Friday. The annual membership will remain at $75.
"deficit and escalating costs"? How can that be? Didn't Rahm just announce some sort of "grant" funded program to make Divvy's more affordable to the indigent? He did!
- Chicago residents who make less than $35,000 a year and do not have a debit or credit card will qualify for a $5 annual Divvy membership. The regular price is $75.
The mayor's office said the program is made possible through a grant.
With Divvy losing money and hiking fees, this wouldn't seem like the correct time to be giving away memberships, even if it's funded by a "grant." Why, someone might be liable to think the "grant" is actually paid for by the increased fees.
And of course, this stirred the memory banks - remember that "free" City Colleges program? This popped up a little over a week ago:
And of course, this stirred the memory banks - remember that "free" City Colleges program? This popped up a little over a week ago:
- Many City Colleges of Chicago students are in line for significant tuition increases this fall under a budget trustees overseeing the seven-campus system approved Thursday.
The board, which is appointed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, voted without dissent to raise tuition as part of a $696 million spending plan that includes no property tax increase. By raising costs for students instead, City Colleges can balance its budget without resorting to the politically painful broad tax hikes Emanuel is facing as he tries to deal with pension shortfalls and budget holes at City Hall and Chicago Public Schools.
The tuition increase was announced to students in an email two days before the vote and after many of them had started signing up for fall classes. City Colleges Chancellor Cheryl Hyman defended the hike, saying it will make costs for students more transparent by eliminating extra fees. Hyman said the aim is to get more students to take full-time course loads of 15 credits each semester by making it less expensive to do so on a per-credit basis.
So City Colleges, which makes a majority of its money off of part-time students (60% of enrollment), is jacking up the fees on the part-timers, while Rahm has been pushing for a "free program." Call us cynical, but why penalize the working people who are attempting to improve their lot while holding down a job? Shouldn't those be the ones getting a break?
Is there a financial endeavor anywhere in this city that doesn't lead to bankruptcy?
Is there a financial endeavor anywhere in this city that doesn't lead to bankruptcy?
Labels: money questions
posted by SCC at 12:11 AM
52 Comments:
"Chicago residents who make less than $35,000 a year...will qualify for a $5 annual Divvy membership."
BUT ONLY FOR THE FIRST YEAR. After that, it goes up to the regular $75/year.
Just a hook to get people in, like "$19.95/month" Internet service promotions that end up costing $100/month.
Who would be dumb enough to shell out 75$ annual fee for a bike? You can by one for aound that price at target or Walmart
Why jack up property taxes on people who are not going to Jr. Collage and don't have a child in collage. Let the ones in collage getting the education pay their own way, and pay for their education. Jeeeze, that is a no brainer
Since the announcement in the paper reagrding the grant giving a $5.00 membership to the people who refuse to work, you see divvy bikes all over the west side.
The Democratic Party used to stand up for the working man.
Now the Democommunist Party now stands up for the non-working, like the professional student and the working man be damned.
It took me seventeen years of going to college part-time while working full time to be the first member of my family to get a B.A. Degree. I went to seven different schools including Chicago City Colleges like Wright, Kennedy-King and Mayfair. Thank god for the city's Tuition Reimbursement Program. The degree served me well and helped me get promoted.
I was listening to a nationally broadcast financial program on the radio yesterday.
Bob Brinker talked about the current financial situation in Chicago. About 2 minutes
long. I came away with stay away, do not invest in and bankruptcy. He compared Chicago to Detroit.
Wow, I'm so glad to be gone. Good luck stay safe.
I believe Rahm failed Economics 101 while majoring in Ballerina classes in College! He sure is stupid about finances!
Bankruptcy is the final word. See you there.
Now, kees me you fool!!!!
It appears only the daily pass is affected by the increase. Mostly that is used by visitors to the city. Stiff the visitors seems to be the motto.
Sixty percent of City College credit classes are taught by poorly compensated part-time adjunct faculty. The adjuncts have been working without a contract since 2012 and have not had a pay increase since 2011. An adjunct instructor typically earns about $2,300.00 per three credit hour class (eighty minutes of class twice weekly for sixteen weeks, plus an hour of office time per class each week).
Cheryl Hyman, who had ZERO experience in higher education administration is a former bankrupt who was appointed by former Mayor Richard M. Daley and reappointed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel on the recommendation of Frank Clark of Commonwealth Edison, who Emanuel just appointed to the Chicago Board of Education. Hyman rents an apartment in Chicago from East Lake Management (a business run by City Hall insider Elzie Higginbotham) while maintaining a suburban mansion in Lansing, Illinois.
The City Colleges is being exploited as a boondoggle as one of the last government entities with cash reserves to raid (watch for the Malcolm X College construction contracts -- this is the same college where medical cadavers were placed in closets to decompose). Hyman's "Reinvention" initiative is a costly public relations campaign. One of the signature initiatives was awarding a multimillion dollar contract to a Democratic political donor to operate an hourly City Colleges shuttle bus service that parallels bus routes run by the Chicago Transit Authority.
Teach your children well and visit the Better Government Association website for more coverage of the shenanigans at the Shitty Colleges of Chicago.
I thought the Divvy bike story was a contradiction; hiking fees while reducing costs for lower income residents.
I still say a bankruptcy is in the City’s future.
And that mess in Springfield; I have to say I am with the Gov on this one. Like it or not, this state needs jobs and economic growth; you can’t try to pass a incomplete budget for one; and the things the Gov is asking for does start a turnaround. The workman comp is a mess; the taxes are a mess; etc...
Madigan is a career pol and that should not be the case here; he’s out of touch with reality and close minded; that’s while the state is in this mess
There is a simple principle in psychology that says that if you don't work for something, you don't appreciate it. Simple, right?
So when will the Progressive Democrats pick up on that? Actually they know it, but they also know that they can keep them "on the plantation" with free stuff. The Democrats were against freeing the slaves in Lincoln's time and integrating schools a hundred years later. Ironic isn't it?
For fuck sake, Buy your self a bike and a good lock. It's cheaper and you won't be supporting a program that you know other participants aren't fully supporting (you know, like Obama care).
Just another stupid program that loses money in Chicago. Typical.
Divy bike sharing program is also a government granted monopoly. This company was given an exclusive contract. Why them? Why are other companies excluded and this one in particular given an exclusive monopoly? Something stinks high to heaven. This sort of insider dealing is representative of Chicago. But the electorate keeps electing the same politicians again and again.
I read the article. This is where my eyeballs jumped out: a company called Motivate was given a $65,000,000 contract for five years. But the Divy bike business only generates $800,000 in revenue per year. Plus, this being Chicago, I don't see many people riding bikes from late October to early June. This is all common sense, yet the political ruling class just maintains "oh we had no idea". This is in your face corruption/stealing. Yet we as citizens are just so used to it that we give up on it.
Best part for Rahm pushing kids into taking out student loans is that you can't get rid of the student loans in bankruptcy.
Hooray for the investment bankers!!
Like when you find out you've been sold a "big lie" getting a degree gauntness you a better wage and a life. Just look at the number of student loans going into default and see. AND it includes kids with STEM degrees, the much touted safe haven of employment.
There's no shortage of fill_in_the_blank skills, Automation and immigration ensures that.
Just keep importing the poverty and see where that leads when it comes to violent crime Rahm. Of course you love it because it makes the crisis even bigger. That crisis is the tool for more power grabs and clouted six-figure jobs for your friends.
Liberal democrats just keep trying to think up schemes to redistribute money. The poor hardworking middle class ( cops and firefighters for example) have to take second jobs to get their kids in good schools, pay for college, a roof over their heads . But, if you work at a minimal wage job or not work at all, the government keeps trying to give you these things for free. The government will pay for new windows and doors for your home,help pay your cell phone bill, your gas and electric bill, your child car, your transportation, your internet bill etc etc etc, while the working person has to get by on their own . I just love liberal democrats. Yes, just raise the sales tax in the county and all will be well.
Divvy is Chicago’s taxpayer-funded bike-share program, through which users can buy daily or annual memberships to rent one of more than 3,000 bicycles at 300 stations around the city of Chicago.
Under controversial circumstances, Alta Bicycle Share won a $65 million, five-year contract from the city of Chicago to run the Divvy Program. The total included $28 million in federal and local grants.
Taxpayer subsidies for the program are a minimum of $9,600 per bike for the first year alone. But if things don’t pan out taxpayers could be on the hook for more than $17,000 per bike over the five-year contract.
The Groupon deal gives cyclists the opportunity to buy three 24-hour passes for $12.99, or $65 for a one-year “Gear” membership.
Sounds like a fantastic deal if you like bikes, but not so fantastic if you’re a beleaguered taxpayer.
At the $65 cost for a one-year “Gear” membership, it would take 1 million non-Groupon sign-ups more than five years to cover the full cost of the contract with the city, not including any promotional costs paid to Groupon and 24-hour memberships.
Unfortunately, the program has only attracted 10,810 annual members as of Oct. 29. If these low ridership trends continue, taxpayers will be left footing the tab for the lion’s share of the Alta’s Divvy experiment.
The taxpayer-funded program should be scrapped as soon as possible in favor of private companies that stand to profit from the venture taking the risks of implementing such a system.
more https://www.illinoispolicy.org/a-1000-groupon-deals-wont-save-taxpayers-from-divvy-failures/
Chicago bike-sharing program takes taxpayers for a ride
Chicago recently signed a five-year contract with Alta Bicycle Share worth $65 million. The goal is to open 400 bicycle sharing stations with 4,000 bikes across the city early next spring despite a projected budget shortfall of $298 million for fiscal year 2013.
It must be nice to be free of the responsibility of balancing a budget.
The Chicago Reader pointed out that the first-year cost of the program would come out to $28 million in combined subsidies from federal and local authorities. That’s $9,600 per bike.
This doesn’t even include the rental costs of the bikes themselves, which will cost $7 per day, or $75 per year.
It should come as no surprise to those familiar with Chicago politics that the bidding process has been plagued by a lack of transparency and questions about insider dealing.
“Alta’s bid for equipment, installation, and start-up costs came in at $21 million; Bike Chicago’s was $13 million,” according to the Chicago Reader article.
Officials didn’t comment on why Alta’s bid was accepted but Bike Chicago’s wasn’t.
It must be a coincidence that Gabe Klein, Chicago’s Commissioner of Transportation, was a consultant for Alta before being appointed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel in 2011.
Chicago Inspector General Joe Ferguson has begun an inquiry into the deal.
Proponents of the bike sharing program tout the possibility of reducing congestion and air pollution in Chicago. But if it is such a good idea, why should we force strapped taxpayers to support it?
What’s next? A shoe-sharing project to promote walking and running? I probably shouldn’t give them any ideas.
Bike sharing is not a core government service, especially for a city with budget and pension deficits that demand immediate attention.
The taxpayer-funded program should be scrapped entirely. Let private companies that stand to profit from the venture take the risks of implementing such a system.
Crony capitalism is a spreading cancer, and Chicago’s bike-sharing program is yet another example of it.
http://www.illinoispolicy.org/chicago-bike-sharing-program-takes-taxpayers-for-a-ride/
Why the heck is Rahm even in the education business anyway? What value doea a meddling mayor bring to the party?
Forget Divvy!! I have been riding my electric bicycle for years! I save thousands a year by not having a car, or taking the bus.
If it rains I wear a rain suit, if it snows i wear cold weather gear. Plus its fun and adventurous to ride to work. I would advise people to try commuting on an electric bicycle. Its actually much quicker to get around than a bus, or regular bicycle.
There have been divvy stations popping up all over the ghetto an I've only seen dope boys cursing around on them. Something tells me they are not returning the bike to it designated spot when they are done. Brilliant minds over there
Our society is regressing, and it is by our governments doing. Those in control no longer espouse a free market, capitalist economy. They are moving us towards a socialist system of government control. Since when is it the governments job to supply bicycles for cheap transportation? Don't we already have the CTA and the lazy get discounted rides?
Those in control are already screwing up our healthcare, and our economy by sticking their nose into it. The time has come to shrink this behemoth by electing true conservative candidates. The trouble is that the Republican Party has been infiltrated by leftists, and our voting process has become corrupted by the same.
+++++ . . . Divvy has yet to steer clear of red ink, despite some creative bookkeeping, city officials indicated. They said . . . . revenue from daily fees has fallen short of projections, spurring the need to raise the rate. +++++
So in English that means: like all gubmint programs the costs for this feel-good, hippie, liberal bullshit program, out-ways any real fucking benefit, LIKE A PROFIT, and --Surprise!-- taxpayers are on the goddamn hook for all that 'Red Ink'!
Oh, almost forgot, what's that 'creative bookkeeping'? Now maybe it's just me but that sounds a tad ILLEGAL, and the US Attorney just might like to see those 'creative' book entries.
+++++ Divvy was launched at a time when big cities were just beginning .... bike-share programs, and many of the financial predictions we made were based on other industries, without having a direct precedent to look to in the bike-share world," the city said in a statement. +++++
Oh!?! So all financial predictions were based on "other industries". Really? Like what other "industry"? Huh, you brain dead assholes? What's that ???...oh really....the 'iPhone Industry' you say. Well that was fucking brilliant!
I'm being facetious there people. But the cocksuckers prolly did something just as asinine. Bottom line -- they just made shit up.
What a way to run a city !!
Communism
Cuba is opening its Embassy again here because they have won and we are making the move towards Communism
I believe Havana has a divvy-pre Castro era car program with a annual fee of twelve cigars for those making less than 100 bananas a year
JUST A CITIZENS: In regards to the morons who ride these bikes.... LEARN HOW TO STAY UPRIGHT. I'm sick of driving around having to veer over to the opposite side of the road when these Weebles can't stay upright or balance themselves. If you can't ride like a person who has been on a bike before, then stay off the damn main roads. Go practice in the suburbs. Assholes.
Once again the working/middle class will get fleeced to keep providing more and more to the Link card abusing ghetto dwellers.
The decades of throwing more and more money at the ghetto has worked so well.... right??
Am I reading this correctly? Basically, anyone who dines in Pilsen has to pay a special tax?
http://www.wbez.org/news/attention-downtown-diners-1125-percent-sales-tax-coming-2016-112429
In a way, I'm proud of Divvy. Whomever signed that agreement with the city that says that the city has to take care of any operating losses that Divvy has is pretty awesome. I salute their bastardry.
HOW Much More Money is the Ballerina making on this Bike crap ,
They want us to look like China in more ways than one.
Bikes always belong on the Damn SIDEWALK , More people will always get killed riding a Bike on the Street , But of course our Ballerina Mayor likes Riding on the Street . How come he hasn't mentioned how many people have already been KILLED riding on the Street
I think it was Thomas Sowell who said that asking a Democrat about where money & labor come from is like asking a 6-year old where Santa Claus is from.
City Colleges are a joke, a diploma mill that's just a notch above Westwood College and other for-profit junk schools. Classes are overfilled, teachers are woefully underprepared and more than 75 percent are adjuncts who get thrown into classes days before semesters begin, having no training, understanding of what college policies are, and for little money.
Dope boys will give you a bag of dope for a bike on the westside. That's a 20 dollar bag of heroin for a 5 dollar bike rental and the junkie isn't gonna give a shit what charges to whoever's bank card may result. They should just get rid of this bs anyway. All I've seen of these things since they're arrival is yuppies and tourists fucking up traffic all over downtown and norshside.
Ok - speaking of bikes, how about these yuppie and hipster assholes riding in the busy streets with they're little ones trailing behind or babies in those pull behind carrier things (I'm talking downtown and Lincoln park. Kids/toddlers in the street is the norm on the southside). In this city? Our drivers?
Anonymous said...
City Colleges are a joke, a diploma mill that's just a notch above Westwood College and other for-profit junk schools. Classes are overfilled, teachers are woefully underprepared and more than 75 percent are adjuncts who get thrown into classes days before semesters begin, having no training, understanding of what college policies are, and for little money.
7/20/2015 10:43:00 PM
Don't throw the baby out with the bath water. I came home from college two summers and took classes at city colleges (once at Harold Washington and once at Daley). I still think the best English and math classes I had in undergrad were at Daley College. I don't know what you call an overfilled class but a lecture hall with hundreds of students assigned to a TA by alphabetical order is more like overfilled. That was my regular school. Westwood is more than two levels under city colleges. State universities are diploma mills these days...as are the lower level schools.
Anonymous said...
Ok - speaking of bikes, how about these yuppie and hipster assholes riding in the busy streets with they're little ones trailing behind or babies in those pull behind carrier things (I'm talking downtown and Lincoln park. Kids/toddlers in the street is the norm on the southside). In this city? Our drivers?
7/20/2015 11:58:00 PM
They're oblivious to the real world. Until little Bradley or Dennison or Clothilde gets whacked in a dooring incident, it will never occur to them how dangerous (and arrogant) this is.
"Ok - speaking of bikes, how about these yuppie and hipster assholes riding in the busy streets with they're little ones trailing behind or babies in those pull behind carrier things (I'm talking downtown and Lincoln park. Kids/toddlers in the street is the norm on the southside). In this city? Our drivers?"
7/20/2015 11:58:00 PM
I know -- but everyone needs to get NASCAR out of their system and slow down a little as reality dictates in some areas. You won't lose your Valvoline sponsorship. >grin<
Everyone get home safe -- especially including the little kids. That is what matters.
So you get stuck behind. Minutes tick by. It all counts towards your retirement -- uh, well, if you could count on a pension...
Borrow, Rahm! Borrow!
"If it rains I wear a rain suit, if it snows i wear cold weather gear. Plus its fun and adventurous to ride to work. I would advise people to try commuting on an electric bicycle. Its actually much quicker to get around than a bus, or regular bicycle."
7/20/2015 10:15:00 AM
...but you will never build up the power, the endurance you gain on 100 pounds of "expedition touring" fully-loaded mountain bike.
...with no one to come save you if your frame breaks 30 miles out. Fix it or start walking.
I never see ONE -- except for mine.
Even lay off for a couple years, it never really goes away -- it becomes a permanent "I can kick your a__" factor.
Imagine what if I made "healthy lifestyle choices!" >urp<
You build up, it carries you through.
Oh. Anyone know why there are so many crows around right now? Last night sunset, now again this AM.
I enjoy their antics. Just don't fall asleep on a park bench -- they go for the eyes first.
*
Ride safe by whatever means, and God bless.
Who would be dumb enough to shell out 75$ annual fee for a bike? You can by one for aound that price at target or Walmart
===========
and you can ride it wherever you want as long as you want.
OTOH, it might be nice to have a place to park your bike and have someone else do the maintenance and repairs.
the business model does not seem viable to me. but, if they can make it work, more power to them. $75 a year does not seem like anywhere near enough to cover the expenses associated with this thing.
This was a stupid idea from the beginning. Five months of the year people will use them if at all
If a divvy bike is found abandoned, the company won't even be bothered to come and get it.
Anonymous Anonymous said...
Anonymous said...
Ok - speaking of bikes, how about these yuppie and hipster assholes riding in the busy streets with they're little ones trailing behind or babies in those pull behind carrier things (I'm talking downtown and Lincoln park. Kids/toddlers in the street is the norm on the southside). In this city? Our drivers?
7/20/2015 11:58:00 PM
They're oblivious to the real world. Until little Bradley or Dennison or Clothilde gets whacked in a dooring incident, it will never occur to them how dangerous (and arrogant) this is.
7/21/2015 02:25:00 AM
SMDH at this crazy shit...
Little third wheel contraptions with your BABIES in it?
Fuck That Noise.
Kiddy transport is in a 6000+ pound 300+ horsepower
"Environmentally Irresponsible" family truckster.
Save that playpen on wheels shit for the lakefront bike path.
>Heart In Mouth<
Every fucking time we see a near miss with those things
and brother, there are MORE near misses than not.
And yes... A lot of these smug and careless people BLOW
STOP SIGNS with their precious cargo trailing behind them...
If THEY don't give enough of a fuck, who the fuck are we to
intervene in their little busy and self-satisfied lives?
Sometimes... You gotta be ok with letting shit go...
"Wah! You Cops are all mean and full of hate for no good reason!"
The other afternoon I saw a M/1 about 14 Y.O.A. flying up Harlem Avenue on the SDEWALK on a motorized minibike doing about 25MPH dodging between pedestrians.
He was on the Chicago side and I knew it was useless because we never see Chicago police in our neighbor hood but I called 9-1-1 anyway. I gave a very detailed description as this kid kept flying. I suppose he had to make his dope deliveries.
Sooner or later he will hurt or kill himself or some poor pedestrian.
Anonymous said...
City Colleges are a joke, a diploma mill that's just a notch above Westwood College and other for-profit junk schools. Classes are overfilled, teachers are woefully underprepared and more than 75 percent are adjuncts who get thrown into classes days before semesters begin, having no training, understanding of what college policies are, and for little money
I don't know. You can learn things there. I always liked seeing the kids who maybe wern't Harvard material making a run at it. I also liked the adjunct professors who have, in many cases, actual jobs in the field that they are teaching. I have attended two junior colleges. Where did you go?
Meanwhile, the illegal aliens who make up the majority of English as a Second Language students in the City colleges' very large ESL Adult Education programs continue to contribute NOTHING toward their educational costs.
For a city so deeply entrenched in a deficit, Chicago should be cutting back on frills and non-essentials. Is DIVY essential? I don't think so.
Get rid of it unless the company can stand on its own two feet and not be propped up by subsidies and other government money.
Time to wake up - THE WELL HAS RUN DRY. Got some extra money - pay off the big deficits and maybe add some money to the underfunded pension funds.
Don't keep spending money on frills when you don't have enough to pay important bills.
EVERYONE- and I mean EVERYONE - in Chicago has to realize the money ain't there anymore to give them "freebies", subsidies, and bloated pensions.
The sooner you all take a cut, the faster the city will get back on track. I am sure some are going to shoot down this post with the typical 'not MY pension" but that's where you have no clue as to what is in the works.
Municipalities will be able to declare bankruptcy. That means going back to ALL the contracts and saying - they are null and void.
Go take your chances in bankruptcy court and I will guarantee you, you won't get more than 10 cents on the dollar.
With the representation you have (FOP)? You'll be lucky to see a nickel on the dollar. Those at FOP aren't going to argue with anything, lest they lose their promised, big, future clout promotion.
The extent of fierce FOP arguments at bankruptcy court will be short and sweet, "Where do we sign?"
"Bikes belong on the sidewalk"???!!! Since when??
I used to love to ride my bike, but the other bikers in this city and Evanston are enough to get one to curse the day the bike was invented. I am tired of almost getting killed by bikers blowing through stop signs and red lights and not yielding to pedestrians. If the bike is going to be in the road [and if the rider is over the age of 12, it should NOT be on the sidewalk] it should be required to have lights, reflector and the rider should be required to have liability insurance. And yes, they need to get citations for failure to comply with rules of the road.
Sorry, but I tired of seeing elderly pedestrians getting terrorized by rude bikers. Nothing in the law gives them a pass--and yes, I am a lawyer.
"They want us to look like China in more ways than one."
7/20/2015 03:10:00 PM
Ah, but hugely populated China is cleverly moving AWAY from bicycles, and building 18-lane-wide LA-style automotive gridlock as fast as they can. The smog and pollution in Peking and other cities there is beyond description.
Wait until India gets 100 million or so of those little Tata cars. Just the start.
>cough<
"The other afternoon I saw a M/1 about 14 Y.O.A. flying up Harlem Avenue on the SIDEWALK on a motorized minibike doing about 25MPH dodging between pedestrians."
7/21/2015 05:31:00 PM
Yeah, I am seeing more of this nasty little gas-powered s__t too. You wish they'd hit a nice manhole-dug-out-for-maintenance or something and space-launch, except they'd probably -- guess what! -- sue the city.
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