Fears last week that traffic jams from the Dan Ryan Expressway reconstruction would spread to virtually every other Chicago-area highway did not scare away many commuters who park downtown.
That by itself is somewhat scary, suggesting that even with tens of thousands more vehicles expected to converge on downtown in the years ahead, it will be enormously difficult to alter the historical patterns of how people travel to work.
The CTA and Metra saw minor to modest boosts in ridership last week, ranging from 2 percent to 8 percent, after half the lanes on the Dan Ryan were shut down for reconstruction.
But business remained steady at the approximately 200 parking garages and lots in the downtown, according to the Parking Industry Labor Management Council.
“I don’t see any effect from the Ryan project on our daily parking,” said Michael Prussian, chairman of the council, which promotes the parking industry in the city.
As many as 220,000 downtown workers drive to their jobs, according to data from the 2000 Census. The figure doesn’t include as many as another 50,000 people who drive downtown to shop or go to appointments, according to the Census. Anywhere from 750,000 to 1 million people come downtown on an average weekday, the Census reported.
Just when you thought downtown needed the Heimlich maneuver to dislodge some of the traffic, even more cars are on their way. About 40,000 to 60,000 additional vehicles will be driven to work downtown by 2020, according to a separate study of growth and development trends conducted for the parking council.
“It does not seem that the high cost of parking is deterring people from driving downtown,” said Peter Skosey, vice president of external relations at the Metropolitan Planning Council.
“But you aren’t going to get people to switch to transit by making driving less attractive,” Skosey said. “We need more frequent service and clean new stations. It is key to helping the central business district continue to grow, to add office space and compete for business against other cities.”
An urban planning professor who is an expert on parking offers a controversial solution to help fund transit improvements.
Parking meter fees in the downtown should be increased to match the rates at parking garages and lots, said Donald Shoup of the University of California-Los Angeles.
A cheaper meter rate gives the false impression of a parking shortage, Shoup said. It encourages drivers to cruise the downtown in search of an open meter space, adding to traffic congestion and wasting fuel.
In his book “The High Cost of Free Parking,” Shoup argues that on-street parking rates should be increased to match market prices, resulting in an 85 percent occupancy rate. He said drivers should be required to feed the meters 24 hours per day.
Most important, cities should dedicate the revenue to making transportation improvements in the areas where the money is collected, instead of putting it in the general fund.
The Metropolitan Planning Council is working with City Hall to begin a study to test Shoup’s concepts, Skosey said.
The proposal focuses on creating a parking improvement district on the 53rd Street business district in Hyde Park. Parking revenue collected in Hyde Park would be used to upgrade street amenities and to beautify transit stations in the neighborhood, he said.
Mass transit tally
About 60 percent of the people who commute to jobs in the central business district each weekday use mass transit, according to the Regional Transportation Authority. About 75 percent of all trips downtown are on trains and buses, the RTA said. The rates haven’t changed much in the last 30 years.
