Should motorists pay a toll for the privilege of driving in Chicago’s central business district?
Ald. Edward Burke (14th) believes it’s a good time to raise the question.
Burke on Wednesday introduced a resolution calling for a City Council hearing on the feasibility of levying a “congestion fee” on drivers who set tire downtown.
“Can it reduce pollution? Can it reduce traffic? Can it raise a revenue stream to help out the beleaguered CTA?” Burke asked. “It’s certainly a very complicated issue and one that should not be rushed into. But I thought that as long as London is doing it, as long as New York is [proposing] it, perhaps it is an idea that Chicago ought to consider.”
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How much would be charged, how would tolls be collected and how much money might be generated for the cash-strapped CTA are the types of information the alderman hopes to gather by listening to experts at the hearing.
Mayor Richard Daley said he has an open mind on the congestion-fee concept. But he also has reservations.
With their narrow streets and absence of alleys, London and New York are “completely different” from Chicago, he said.
“Are you going to put [the fee] on all the aldermen who drive every day?” Daley asked. “What about all the trucks coming downtown? What do you do with them?”
“Let’s not rush to that and scare everybody off,” the mayor declared. “We are trying to keep businesses here and … move businesses into the city.”