Chicago Parking Meters: The Dollar is the New Quarter
By Hunter Clauss in News on Dec 2, 2008 8:25PM
Chicago motorists will now have to fork over more money at parking meters thanks to a plan that privatizes the city’s 35,000 meters. Mayor Daley unveiled a $1.15-billion bid today that would lease the city’s meters to Chicago Parking Meters LLC, which is made up of Morgan Stanley infrastructure funds. If the 75-year deal is approved by the City Council on Thursday, parking meter fees will jump to at least $1 per hour. That means the days of spending only a quarter for an hour are over. Parking spots that already charge $1 per hour are now bumped to $2 and meters costing $3 per hour will now be $3.50. But aldermen must approve any further rate increases after the first five years. The deal also includes more pay-and-display boxes and pay-by-phone options, which eliminates old-fashioned “pay-by-cash†meters. So the days of driving up to a meter and finding it’s already paid could be over as well.
The city plans on dividing the money from the bid into four funds, which includes a $400-million long-term reserve fund, $325 million to fill city budget gaps through 2012 and $100 million that will go to programs aimed at low-income people. City officials also plan to create a $324-million fund that “may be used to help bridge the period until the nation’s economy grows again.â€
The city’s parking meters could join the Chicago Skyway, downtown parking garages and Midway Airport as city assets that have succumb to Mayor Daley’s privatization fever.
Image via wendtwork.