Unclog Chicago’s streets and expressways, but do it wisely

As one of the most traffic-clogged cities in the nation, Chicago is a natural place for a congestion tax.

But it must be designed thoughtfully if the public is to see it as a way to make it easier to get around — and not just a revenue grab.

As tried in cities including London, Milan, Stockholm and Singapore, congestion pricing is a fee levied on motorists who drive into heavily trafficked areas, usually in the center of a city. New York will implement congestion pricing in 2021. The goal is to ease traffic jams and encourage people to use eco-friendly modes of travel. The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning’s GoTo 2040 plan urges congestion pricing for the Chicago region.

On Monday, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she is planning some “modest recommendations” about Chicago’s traffic congestion. That followed an Aug. 30 meeting with the Chicago Sun-Times Editorial Board in which she said the city is looking at ways to “incentivize people to use environmentally friendly modes of transportation.”

She referred specifically to “tens of thousands of cars . . . in the downtown area [and] West Loop every single day that are just exploding our traffic problems.”

A Chicago plan could be similar to cities that charge a fee on each vehicle that enters a particular area. But the city also could consider varying the fee depending on the time, the number of passengers, the type of vehicle and even the motorist’s ability to pay.

Right now, about half of Chicago’s commutes are carried out by people riding alone, either in a personal car or an alternative such as Uber that is carrying just one passenger. That’s a big reason why the Texas A&M Transportation Institute has ranked Chicago third in the nation for total amount of time wasted in travel delays.

You can see the gridlock almost every day.

Clearly, we can do better, and congestion pricing is part of the answer.

But, as transit experts say, all stick and no carrot would be the wrong approach. Charging motorists for driving into certain areas should be accompanied by improving more efficient alternatives to getting into those areas.

“Congestion pricing revenue should be primarily earmarked for mobility,” Joseph P. Schwieterman, director of DePaul’s Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development, said Tuesday.

Yes, there is revenue to be had. London is pulling in $230 million each year, according a Seattle Department of Transportation report. But much of that money should go toward the technical costs of installing and maintaining such a system.

As for the rest, we need a lot of it just to keep our transit systems running. In May, the Regional Transportation Authority said it needs $30 billion over 10 years just to get its transit systems into a state of good repair.

“People are willing to pay more to make their lives more efficient,” said Laurence Msall, president of the Civic Federation. “[But] it has got to be something that is thoughtfully done.”

For example, any congestion pricing plan needs to be fair to people who live in public transit deserts and don’t have practical options. And any such plan must be devised in a way that doesn’t hurt the city’s economic center by unintentionally reducing the number of people interested in renting offices, eating at restaurants, attending entertainment events or taking jobs downtown.

Also, using revenues from congestion pricing to fix the city’s budget might run afoul of Illinois’ 2016 Lockbox Amendment, which prevents using transportation revenues on non-related projects. It’s not clear if that would apply to a city congestion fee, but any attempt to divert those fees probably would lead to years of litigation.

Chicagoans already are pretty good about taking public transportation when it is available. According to a study of 100 cities released this week by WalletHub, Chicago has the sixth largest share of commuters who use public transit.

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But that same study shows Chicago has the 88^th oldest average age of its transit fleet.

A big part of Chicago’s traffic congestion takes place on the expressways, and any attempt to impose congestion pricing would require cooperation from state and federal officials.

But one thing Chicago could — and should — do on its own right now is to increase the fee on single-occupancy ride-hailing trips.

The current fee is 72 cents on rides from companies such as Uber and Lyft, with $5 extra for trips to and from O’Hare, Midway, McCormick Place and Navy Pier, but that fee doesn’t take into account how many riders are in each vehicle. A significant part of downtown’s traffic problems is the number of ride-hailing vehicles idling or cruising while awaiting the next single rider. A properly designed fee increase could ease that congestion.

The fewer gas-guzzling autos on the streets the better. Congestion pricing can help achieve that. But significant public transit improvements will require investment.

Bottom line: Anybody who thinks there’s unlimited gold in Chicago’s traffic jams that can be put to other purposes is going to be disappointed.

SOURCE: Shared Use Mobility Center

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