Automated cameras that catch drivers who block bus and bike lanes in the act could soon come to more Chicago neighborhoods, after aldermen on Friday advanced a measure that would expand the city’s Smart Streets program.
Also Friday, members of the City Council’s pedestrian and traffic safety committee delayed a vote on extending the city’s Divvy contract after scooter-share company Lime rallied against the extension.
The committee on Friday approved legislation sponsored by Aldermen Daniel La Spata, 1st, and Andre Vasquez, 40th, that would expand the city’s Smart Streets pilot program to the entire city and make it permanent.
The Smart Streets expansion legislation, which was filed with a total of 30 sponsors and cosponsors — more than half of all 50 aldermen — still needs to secure approval from the full City Council.
Under Smart Streets, cameras mounted on city vehicles and CTA buses catch drivers who block bus stops, bus lanes and bike lanes. Drivers are first issued warnings, then tickets that can cost up to $250 for a bike lane violation.
Smart Streets currently operates in an area of the city bounded roughly by Irving Park Road to the north, 26th Street to the south and Ashland Avenue to the west. In addition to expanding the program to the entire city in phases, the ordinance would also make the program permanent. Without council action, the pilot is scheduled to expire in December.
The Smart Streets program is intended, in part, to cut down on traffic crashes by dissuading drivers from blocking bike lanes. Bike safety advocates have long warned about the dangers cyclists face when drivers block dedicated lanes, forcing cyclists into traffic.
The city has argued that the program is working, and that most drivers who get cited don’t run afoul of an automated camera again.
At the same time, the city has acknowledged that it has been harder to change the behavior of people working as drivers for large delivery companies. The Tribune has previously reported
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that vehicles owned by corporate delivery giants are some of the program’s most consistent scofflaws.Smart Streets tickets are also issued for some other parking violations, including for expired parking meters.
If the ordinance passes the full council, the city would expand the geographic area covered by the program in phases until it ultimately covers the city in 2028, city staffers told aldermen Friday. The expansion would bring an expected $6.1 million net increase in program revenue next year, staffers said.
Since the pilot program’s inception in 2024, the city has collected around $2.5 million, the city staff told aldermen during a hearing on the program last month, with additional revenue the city has not yet collected outstanding.
Some aldermen had previously called for an expansion of Smart Streets as one measure needed to improve traffic safety in Chicago following the death earlier this year of Chicago Department of Transportation employee Riley O’Neil in a Bridgeport traffic crash.
“Anyone who experiences a blocked bike or bus lane could have been Riley,” La Spata said Friday. “And I refuse to wake up to a headline of one of our colleagues who experiences the same thing.”
Before the same committee meeting, supporters of scooter-share company Lime rallied against the city’s proposed contract extension for the Divvy bike-share program, which is supported by Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson. Lime and Divvy supporters gave dueling speeches during the public comment portion of Friday’s meeting before aldermen deferred the vote on the contract.
The city’s proposed contract extension for Lyft-operated Divvy would begin in 2028 and go through early 2033.
In a letter to committee Chair La Spata before Friday’s meeting, Lime wrote that the extension for Divvy would give it an “unfair, government-sanctioned advantage” and that Lime would be “further restricted from providing the affordable and accessible mobility options Chicagoans have come to rely on.”
The proposed contract extension would expand Divvy’s “core area” to cover a much larger part of the city. The current “core area” is a zone, bounded by North Avenue, Ashland Avenue, I-55 and the lakefront, in which Lime’s operations are very limited.
Under the contract extension, that “core area” would be expanded significantly from the north to south lakefront, and would eventually be expanded even farther west as well.
Chicago’s Transportation Department said the core area allows the city “to prioritize the City’s station-based scooter system in high-demand areas and help address sidewalk accessibility and scooter parking concerns.” The proposed core area expansion help the city “better manage scooter parking in busy areas of the city,” CDOT said.
But Lime has suggested that the changes could lead to higher prices and fewer options for riders.
“We know what happens when monopolies are granted to private corporations,” said Lee Foley, Lime’s regional head of community and government relations, during the public comment portion of the meeting. “Prices increase. Service deteriorates.”
Under the proposed contract extension, Divvy membership prices would stay the same until the end of 2027. Starting on Jan. 1, 2028, the membership cost could increase to $150 for both new and returning members, according to the ordinance. The city also said the extension would “establish stronger protections against future price increases” by capping them at inflation plus 2%.
In a statement after aldermen deferred the contract vote during Friday’s meeting, Lime said it was “grateful” to committee members for “opting for good government, fair competition, and clearer oversight today.”
“There’s misinformation out there about Lyft being the only way forward. With a fair process, Lime looks forward to showing Chicago what it can bring here in the future,” Lime said.
In a statement before Friday’s meeting, Griffin Krueger, a spokesperson for the mayor, said the city “appreciates Lime’s continued desire to invest in Chicago.”
“The administration will continue to engage with industry partners and members of the City Council as the legislative process plays out,” he said.