Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel wants to use congestion fees to help fund a new rail station and the city's first bus rapid transit line. Anyone parking in a downtown lot will be required to pay an additional $2 on top of the existing parking fee.
Noah Kazis writes that "Emanuel and his transportation commissioner, Gabe Klein, want to use that revenue to complete two important transit projects. A new Green Line station at McCormick Place would allow for transit-oriented development in a fast-growing part of the city. A bus rapid transit system with dedicated, camera-enforced lanes, priority at traffic signals and off-board fare payment will be put into place for a new downtown circulator route."
This is deja vu for residents because a similar plan had been brought up in the past. In 2008, Mayor Richard M. Daley proposed a plan that would increase parking fees up to $8 a day to fund an BRT system as well, "but opposition kept that plan from being enacted before a federal deadline passed," according to Kazis.
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