The controversial system rolled out in the new year within New York. The system established what is known as a “Congestion Relief Zone” in Manhattan, with drivers assessed a toll when they enter the area.

That $9 toll is either assessed to an EZ-PASS transponder, or via a mailed bill to the address associated with a vehicle.

As New York moves forward with the program, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson says he is considering a congestion pricing plan for the city.

“I think being able to have robust conversations about how we respond to congestion, and of course, how we generate revenue, particularly from individuals that take full advantage of our city resources, but don’t necessarily live here … I’m all for that conversation,” he said in an interview with Block Club Chicago.

DEI needs to stop this anti-car agenda.

https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/chicago-congestion-pricing-new-york-launches-program/3642185/



I'm not really in favor of this for Chicago for a few reasons. The first is that I don't think the situation is quite as dire as it got to be in Manhattan, where gridlock made the roads unnavigable. I've talked about the traffic in the Loop being the worst I've ever seen it, but we're not at insanity levels of traffic yet. We might get there, though, because

We don't have the transit capacity to shoulder the burden yet. The headways are still too long and the trains are still too antisocial, and Mayor Hotep doesn't care about the L because the North Side lines disproportionately benefit white people. Driving in the Loop shouldn't be a viable option, but it's become one because of the sorry state of the CTA.

The p.r. angle of squeezing more money out of commuters, staycationers, and tourists is just going to piss everyone off even more. If you're a nice suburban family of four from Crystal Lake and you want to take your kids to the Shedd, the tickets are already like $50 a pop, then you probably have to park under Millennium Park for like $30-$40 because the Green Line is not an option for small children (see above), then you get whacked with another $5 toll because you committed the sin of driving downtown and that's the last straw: the drive downtown already sucked and now this. Incidentally, I would rebut Mayor Hotep's line about "individuals that take full advantage of our city resources, but don’t necessarily live here." If you don't live there, you, by definition, are not taking full advantage of city resources.

As the article points out, the real problem with Chicago traffic isn't even the Loop itself, it's always been the Kennedy and Dan Ryan. I still think we can alleviate some of that by making transit a preferable experience. There was a proposal a while back to dismantle the Ohio/Ontario ramps, which would nudge people toward better options while opening up that space for better development. But a Tollbooth Zone downtown just doesn't feel like the right option here.

That's non-ironically what Johnson has been doing with board appointments.

As long as he keeps the Taste Of Chicago great.

I actually like congestion pricing. Fast pass for people who can pay.

If the feds want to give you a blank check of highway funds to pursue some project it should be burying the Kennedy from Hubbard to Jackson, getting rid of all the cross streets and ramps between Randolph and Jackson then putting in some green space. Develop the sea of parking lots in that area. It’d be a dramatic improvement.

The easiest thing in the world for those who don't drive expressways regularly is to say get rid of the expressway. People drive from to to fro. All that will be accomplished is longer drive times on more crowded side roads. The solution isn't "fuck them".

A lid over the expressway would go such a long way in not making everything west of it feel like a strange and forbidding land. I don't think you could terminate every cross street on either side of it. But that stretch of the Kennedy acts as a giant moat. It's not good.


No one said to get rid of them. Unfortunately, we're stuck with them and their terrible median L tracks. But getting rid of the Ohio ramp has been a fairly popular proposal.

I misread bury as in get rid of it.

I am certain the city of Chicago is fully aware of the Loop’s death spiral

The Loop already has a downtown vacancy rate that is rivaled only by San Francisco among major cities in the US. Congestion pricing would just be another nail in that coffin as it would further dissuade trips downtown.

Here's a question that should be asked, but is the city really ready for what happens when those downtown buildings aren't paying as much in property taxes because the assessment value is plummeting due to the vacancies and the impending foreclosure on several buildings

I think the issue is it’s just a $2000 tax for nothing. Basically so NYC can secure more bonds and kick the can down the road. Or my cynical theory, they want to try and circumvent federal immigration laws and need to be buttressed against three years of being cutoff from federal money.

It’s not a great precedent.

Well people could take the only good public transport in the country. Otherwise pay the $2k.

The other thing about Manhattan congestion pricing is that it's designed to screw over people living in NJ/CT/Staten Island who works or socialize in Manhattan.

I think the issue is it’s just a $2000 tax for nothing. Basically so NYC can secure more bonds and kick the can down the road. Or my cynical theory, they want to try and circumvent federal immigration laws and need to be buttressed against three years of being cutoff from federal money.

It’s not a great precedent.

The problem is you give them this money and it makes them worse. It’s not just a punitive tax, you are feeding the beast.

…it makes sense for Manhattan. You just can't have that many cars on the streets at that density.

Who's driving into midtown Manhattan 222 times a year? There has to be a better way.