Politics
Chicago Drivers Caught on Camera Blocking Bus, Bicycle Lanes Hit With $4.5M in Fines: Data
(WTTW News)
Drivers who blocked bicycle and bus lanes have racked up nearly $4.5 million in fines since November 2024, when an effort to use automated cameras to make streets safer for cyclists and pedestrians launched downtown, according to city data unveiled Tuesday.
While most of the drivers who got a ticket in the mail did not commit another infraction, commercial vehicles were among the most consistent scofflaws, said Sean Wiedel, deputy commissioner for the Chicago Department of Transportation.
In all, the city has banked approximately $2.6 million in revenue from the tickets, records show.
Too often delivery giants see the tickets as an unavoidable cost of doing business, Wiedel said.
The cameras issue citations for seven violations, including $250 fines for blocking bicycle lanes, $90 tickets for obstructing bus lanes and $140 for parking in a loading zone, records show.
Members of the Chicago City Council’s Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Committee said Tuesday that the data proves that the pilot program, dubbed Smart Streets by city officials, set to expire in December, should be made permanent and expanded.
Committee Chair Ald. Daniel La Spata (1st Ward) urged officials from the city’s departments of transportation and finance to prepare to install automated license plate readers and cameras on more city vehicles and CTA buses and start issuing fines across the city.
“Let’s skip the Pinto and go right to the Cadillac,” La Spata said. “I hope the budget will have a Cadillac-level investment in Smart Streets.”
La Spata’s comment came after Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th Ward) said his only complaint about the program was that it had ramped up too slowly, likening it to the speed of a Ford Pinto, which became notorious for its lack of power — and for catching fire during crashes.
Eight city vehicles have the license plate readers and cameras, while six buses on the CTA’s No. 20, No. 36 and No. 66 bus routes have cameras, Wiedel said.
Cameras will be installed on more than 50 CTA buses by the end of the month, said Molly Poppe, the CTA’s chief planning and innovation officer.
Approved by the Chicago City Council in 2023 under former Mayor Lori Lightfoot, the program did not launch until late 2024, records show.
The city’s 2026 spending plan expanded the pilot program, which had been limited to the central business district, to stretch from Irving Park Road on the north, Ashland Avenue on the west, Archer Avenue and 26th Street on the south and Lake Michigan on the east, records show.
Chuck Billows, the deputy director for the city’s finance department, said officials had been working to carefully expand the program to ensure the tickets would not be tossed out by judges.
“There have been a lot of growing pains,” Billows said, telling committee members that officials are testing efforts to mount cameras on poles to catch violations.
Ald. Bennett Lawson (44th Ward) called for “more automated enforcement on everything.”
“This is a really key tool for safety (and) for our budget, not to be naive,” Lawson said.
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
