INTERACTIVE REPORT · 12 MONTHS OF DIVVY TRIP DATA
Cyclistic's marketing team wants to convert casual riders into more-profitable annual members. This analysis answers one question — how do the two groups actually use the bikes differently? — and turns the answer into a targeted conversion strategy. Every chart below is drawn live from the analysis output.
01 — DATA & METHOD
A Python (pandas) pipeline processed each monthly file individually for memory safety, logging every transformation with before/after row counts. A pre-clean audit flagged issues, each step removed only what was documented, and post-clean assertions re-verify the output — failing loudly on any violation.
| CHECK | RECORDS | ACTION |
|---|---|---|
| Raw rides loaded | 6,213,372 | — |
| Duplicate ride IDs | 28 | Removed |
| Ride length ≤ 0 | 29 | Removed |
| Ride length > 24h | 6,215 | Removed (system error) |
| Null station names | 1,328,474 | Retained — not needed for this comparison |
| Clean rides | 6,207,100 | 0.10% removed total |
Retaining rides with missing station names was a deliberate judgment call: station is irrelevant to the member-vs-casual comparison, and dropping ~21% of the data would have distorted volume patterns. Documenting that decision is part of keeping the analysis honest.
02 — RHYTHM OF THE WEEK
Member volume peaks Tuesday–Thursday and sags on weekends. Casual volume does the opposite — nearly doubling from midweek to Saturday. Two different products are being consumed on the same bikes.
03 — THE SEASONAL CLIFF
Both groups decline in winter, but December tells the story: ~112K member rides against ~28K casual. Casual demand is a warm-weather phenomenon — which is exactly when conversion spend should concentrate.
04 — SHAPE OF A DAY
The hourly profile is the clearest behavioral fingerprint: members spike at 8 AM and 5 PM — textbook commuting — while casual riding builds through the morning into one long leisure afternoon.
05 — DURATION & EQUIPMENT
Average casual ride: 19.0 minutes vs 12.0 for members (medians: 11.4 vs 8.6) — leisure use versus short, purposeful trips. Rideable type, meanwhile, barely differentiates the groups: both favor electric bikes at nearly identical rates. A useful non-finding that rules out equipment-led strategies.
06 — WHERE THEY RIDE
Every top casual dock is a tourist landmark — Navy Pier, Shedd Aquarium, Millennium Park, the Lake Shore Drive waterfront. Every top member dock sits in the Loop's commuter core, with the Clinton Street corridor — directly beside Ogilvie and Union Station — running up to 83% member. Geography confirms the behavioral story: leisure at the water, last-mile commuting at the terminals. It also hands marketing a literal target map for in-app weekend offers.
07 — RECOMMENDATIONS
Casual demand concentrates on Saturday and Sunday. Promote a membership tier that highlights weekend value, and target casual riders in-app on weekend mornings — when intent is highest.
Casuals take longer, recreational rides. Frame messaging around unlimited leisure time and savings on long rides — not commuter efficiency, which appeals to riders who are already members.
Casual ridership peaks May–September. Concentrate acquisition spend and introductory offers in that window, when casual riders are most active and most receptive to converting.