For Chicagoans, ringing in the new year also comes with clanging more change into meters, buses and Transit Card vending machines.
Late last year, city officials approved rate increases on Chicago’s 36,000 parking meters. The most expensive meters in the Loop, which used to cost $3 an hour, now require $3.50. In the non-Loop and Central Business District areas, expect to pay $2 instead of $1. Neighborhood meters, which make up two-thirds of the city’s spots, have quadrupled from a quarter per hour to $1. Free parking on Sundays and New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, the 4th of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas? No more.
The fare hikes come from the 75-year lease deal city officials made with Chicago Parking Meter, LLC, who now owns all the meters and can issue its own parking enforcement officers. CPM is run by Morgan Stanley, the same corporation that bought Chicago’s parking garages in 2006. Interestingly enough, Morgan Stanley is also the corporation to which we just handed $10 billion in bailout money, and the same corporation for which Mayor Daley’s nephew works.
Under the lease agreement, which I think is entirely too long, fares will increase at least a quarter per year for the next five years. Thereafter, the inevitable increases will “reflect inflation.”
By 2011, however, CPM says that all meter fares will be payable via credit and debit card. Sure, technology will make paying up more convenient, but that is little consolation.
Those who take public transportation are affected as well. Both the Chicago Transit Authority and Pace bus systems have increased their fares as of Jan. 1. Whereas bus fare was $1.75 on Pace and CTA buses, it is now $2. Train Transit Cards cost $2.25, up from $2. The 7-Day Pass is $23 instead of $20, and a 30-Day Pass is $86 instead of $75. The Chicago Card, which was initially an incentive because train rides remained $1.75 last year, is now $2.25, the same as regular rides on a Transit Card.
In addition, Chicago-area college students will see a 15 percent fare increase in their U-Passes. The 2- and 5-Day Passes have been discontinued, and Pace will no longer accept the U-Pass nor CTA’s 1-, 3-, and 7-Day Passes; there is now a joint pass that must be purchased for $28 in order to travel on both systems.
Oh, and the free trolleys serving Metra, Museum Campus, and Michigan Ave. and Navy Pier? Gone as of Jan. 4.
Chicago: Our transit system couples fare increases with service cuts and little improvements. The city tax on parking garages has increased to $3 from $2.25. We already have a 10.25 percent sales tax rate, the highest in the country. Property taxes nearly doubled in 2008. Chicago Public Library’s late fine per day is now 20 cents instead of 10. Car insurance rates are higher if you park in the city. What’s next? Paying to access beaches, parks, and zoos? Tolls on the Eisenhower and sidewalks?
Happy new year.
And you thought New York and LA were expensive places to live. We’re catching up.
photo from The Expired Meter
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