Illinois ‘People Over Parking Act’ Bans Parking Requirements Near Transit

The new Illinois transit bill includes the People Over Parking Act, a law that bars cities from requiring parking near transit, reports Steven Vance in Streetsblog Chicago.

As Vance explains, “Parking requirements, which nearly every municipality in the Chicago metropolitan area has, drive up the cost of construction, create more parking spaces than are needed, add procedural barriers to the building permit process, and make it more difficult to reuse existing buildings, among other issues.” The law applies to new construction or renovation within a half mile of a public transit hub or one eighth of a mile from a public transportation corridor and excludes hotels and other transient lodging. 

Under the law, municipalities can set parking requirements for bikes and maximum car parking allowances. “In situations where developments are voluntarily providing car parking, municipalities can impose requirements that reserve space for car share vehicles, that some parking be made available to the public, and that parking must be made available for a charge.”