THINKING TWICE
Parking plan would double rates near Wrigley — but it could have been worse
Chicago aldermen on Thursday put the final touches on a plan to double parking meter rates at 1,100 spaces around Wrigley Field and learned it could have been a whole lot worse for motorists.
Chief Financial Officer Carole Brown said she wanted to launch the surge pricing experiment with a sixfold increase in the $ 2- an- hour parking meter rate to discourage fans from driving to Cubs games.
“I’ll be honest. I wanted to do $ 12. And the [ local] alderman looked at me like I was crazy,” Brown told the City Council’s Committee on Pedestrian and Traffic Safety. “I had my CFO hat on, as opposed to my constituents hat.”
Local Ald. Tom Tunney ( 44th) said he nixed the idea of charging whatever the market will bear to avoid what happened after former Mayor Richard M. Daley leased Chicago parking meters and empowered the company to implement a steep schedule of rate hikes.
“Going from $ 2 to $ 4 is a big deal. This is what got us into trouble in the first place — because we never properly priced the meters,” Tunney said.
“So when the meters went from 25 cents an hour to $ 2 an hour, there was a violent reaction from businesses, from residents and such. That’s why I believe in the incremental approach. There was no way I was gonna support going from $ 2 to $ 12.”
The surge pricing — which could ultimately extend to the streets surrounding the United Center and Soldier Field — is scheduled to take effect at 5 p. m. April 10 after a pair of technical amendments approved Thursday.
The first change would align the new fees with “programmed payment increments” used by the pay boxes that replaced Chicago parking meters. Since the pay boxes start on the hour, surge pricing would begin “at the hour nearest to” two hours prior to the Cubs game, Wrigley concert or other special event.
If the game starts at 7: 05 p. m., as most night games do, surge pricing would begin at 5 p. m.
The second change would clarify when surge pricing ends. Paid parking ends on the streets surrounding Wrigley Field at 10 p. m. The new language would allow surge pricing to extend beyond 10 p. m. to include the seven- hour window.
Neither change was controversial. But the mere discussion of parking meter rates touched a nerve.
“Whenever the city has found a way to make some money, they tend to expand it. A prime example is our redlight cameras. At one point, it was for safety concerns to help prevent accidents. But once it became a revenue source, red- light cameras were all throughout the city,” said West Side Ald. Chris Taliaferro ( 29th), who cast the only dissenting vote.
“I’m concerned that, in the future, we’re gonna expand beyond the sporting arenas into neighborhoods. . . . We have to be very careful to make sure that this does not turn into a revenue piggy bank for the city at our constituents’ expense. Because I can’t see a need for surge pricing around a Park District stadium where high school football is played. . . . And I certainly would not like to see surge pricing on commercial streets.”
The mayor’s original plan called for surge pricing around Wrigley to apply to 820 parking spaces and generate $ 2.4 million. But the plan has since been expanded to cover 1,100 spaces while the revenue estimate has been lowered to $ 1.5 million.
“I’LL BE HONEST. I WANTED TO DO $ 12. AND THE [ LOCAL] ALDERMAN LOOKED AT ME LIKE I WAS CRAZY.” CAROLE BROWN, Chicago’s chief financial officer