Bike Sharing Program Could be Coming to Rockford

I remember the first time I saw a Divvy bike in downtown Minneapolis; with a lot of enthusiasm, I was like, "What? I can rent a bike to ride around the city? This is genius." Sure, the thought of tourists and visitors riding a bike around an unfamiliar city was a little terrifying but for those of us who love experiencing new things; in a beautiful city, it was genius.

Now I don't know if the City of Rockford would say it's a genius idea, but someone thinks it's at least a good one. With the UW Sports Factory opening in just 59 days, the downtown area is going to start seeing an abundance of tourists and City Administrator, Jim Ryan, hopes to capitalize on all of those additional bodies with Divvy bikes.

The city of Chicago already offers the service and it's pretty easy to use. Around the city, you'll see stations with rows of bikes that you can put money into and the bike is yours for a few hours. It's like getting a shopping cart at Aldi, you just don't get your quarter back at the end.

While it would be nice to have the program implemented by this summer, it's going to take at least three years before you'll start seeing Divvy bikes around the Forest City.

Would you try a bike sharing program if it came to Rockford? Think of all the fun you'll be having as you're biking down the paths along the Rock River and all over downtown.