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Parking Meters and CTA See Price Hike In 2009

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Dec 31, 2008 10:18 am US/Central

Parking Meters and CTA See Price Hike In 2009

CHICAGO (Sun-Times Media Wire) ― There may be penny rides Wednesday night and a parking meter holiday Thursday, but for anyone who takes the CTA or drives in the city, the start of the new year will feel like a hangover, as everyone will have to dig a little deeper into their pockets to ride buses and trains or park at a meter.

 
Earlier this month, the City Council voted 40-5 to authorize Mayor Daley's plan to privatize Chicago's 36,000 parking meters and sock it to motorists lucky enough to find a space on city streets.

Chicago's metered parking system operates under six different zones with varying rates and time limits. Motorists have paid anywhere from 25 cents an hour in outlying neighborhoods to $3 an hour downtown, with overnights, Sundays and holidays free.

Seventy percent of Chicago's meter rates have been frozen for 20 years. On Jan. 1, the bargains will end.

In addition to the possibility of "congestion pricing," the deal calls for meter rates in the Loop to rise to $3.50 in 2009, $4.25 in 2010, $5 in 2011, $5.75 in 2012 and $6.50 in 2013. Central business district rates outside the Loop will go from $1 an hour to $2 in 2009, $2.50 in 2010, $3 in 2011, $3.50 in 2012 and $4 in 2013. Rates will be cut in half between the hours of 9 p.m. and 8 a.m., but meters would have to be fed 24/7.

Neighborhood parking rates that now range from 25 to 75 cents an hour will rise to $1 in 2009, $1.25 in 2010, $1.50 in 2011, $1.75 in 2012 and $2 in 2013.

Meters in most commercial districts outside downtown would operate between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. Neighborhood meters would operate from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Parking enforcement is also expected to get tougher. Not only will the partnership that includes Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners and LAZ Parking have the right to issue parking tickets to "supplement" the city's efforts, but the so-called "broken meter" defense will be more narrow.

It can only be used by motorists who report the meters "inoperable or malfunctioning within 24 hours" of the incident.

Those who wish to avoid the expense of parking by taking the CTA will also be shelling out more cash.

Effective Thursday, the cost of individual rides on CTA buses and trains will go up either 25 or 50 cents; a full-fare 30-day pass will go up $11; and the 10 percent discount commuters were awarded for putting at least $20 on their Chicago Card will be eliminated.

A full fare Transit Card ride on a CTA bus will go from $1.75 to $2; a full fare Transit Card ride on the trains will go from $2 to $2.25; a Chicago Card ride on a bus will go from $1.75 to $2; a ride on the train with a Chicago Card will go from $1.75 to $2.25 and a full fare cash ride on a bus will go from $2 to $2.25.

The CTA's 1-Day, 3-Day and 7-Day passes will go up in price, while the 2- and 5-Day passes will be discontinued.   

Additionally, the full fare 30-day pass will increase from $75 to $86, and the price of a U-Pass for area university students, will go up by 15 percent (the U-Pass increase was effective with the Fall 2009 term).

Also beginning Jan. 1, Pace will no longer accept the CTA's 1-Day, 3-Day, 7-Day and U-Pass fare cards on its system. The CTA and Pace have created a joint 7-Day pass to accommodate riders who use both the CTA and Pace. The pass will cost $28.

(CBS 2 and the Northwest Herald are news partners covering stories in the northwest suburbs. Send story tips to tips@cbs2chicago.com. (© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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