Lawmakers may approve a statewide delivery tax on Doordash and Uber Eats to fund Chicago transit, hitting all Illinoisans who shop online, even those who don’t use CTA, Metra or Pace.
Prices for DoorDash, Uber, Ticketmaster and Illinois tolls might go up now to cover $1.5 billion for Illinois transit agencies. A real estate transfer tax for homes in the Chicago suburbs is also on the table.
Chicago Transit Authority ridership is still below pre-pandemic levels. Crime and a budget shortfall make matters worse, but there are cost-effective ways to make it safer.
Chicago Transit Authority violent crime hit its second-highest level since 2015, while the arrest rate dropped. CTA crime is threatening federal funding.
As housing prices continue to soar out of reach for more Americans, an impulse from policy makers across the country has been to attempt to mandate “affordable” prices through legislation. One common idea is rent control, which limits how much landlords can increase rents on residents. A related one is inclusionary zoning, which forces developers...
The Illinois Senate attempted to pass a “rescue package” for Chicago area mass transit that would punish suburban homeowners with a new real estate transfer tax. State leaders must instead focus on reforms to boost housing and economic growth.
Ridership on Metra, the Chicago Transit Authority and Pace is still down 30% from pre-pandemic levels. The agency overseeing all three needs to look at spending before demanding $1.5 billion from taxpayers.
The Chicago City Council will allow residential developments near public transit to build without imposing parking space minimums, offering a major boost for affordability and the city’s housing supply.