John Kaehny
Recent Posts
Are You Paying Attention City Hall?: Chicago Ripped Off in Parking Privatization
| | No Comments
City parking meters are a gold mine, and in Chicago, Morgan Stanley is rolling in parking riches. Secret company documents leaked to reporters show the company will rake in a 70 percent profit margin this year from its $1.15 billion, 75-year lease of Chicago’s parking meters. This profit is on top of the millions Morgan […]
Chicago Pays the Price for Parking Privatization
| | 4 Comments
It appears Chicago politicians who privatized city parking meter operations traded short-term political gain for long-term fiscal pain. Photo: Best Recession Ever Chicago may have left as much as $974 million on the table under the terms of last year’s agreement with Morgan Stanley. A June report from the city inspector general [PDF] blasted the […]
Obama Stimulus Leaves Bus Riders By the Side of The Road
| | No Comments
Who rides the bus? Data source: American Public Transportation Association The House version of President Obama’s stimulus plan has left bus riders with nothing to look forward to but stiff fare hikes and painful service cuts. Bus systems got zero in immediate operating support from the bill that passed yesterday — stunning neglect compared to […]
Chicago Outsources Parking Reform to Morgan Stanley
| | 1 Comment
The Chicago City Council has approved by a vote of 40-5 a deal to privatize the city’s 36,000 metered parking spots for the next 75 years, trading meter revenues for an upfront payment of $1.15 billion. Under the agreement with Morgan Stanley Infrastructure, meter rates will rise substantially and some meters will operate overnight and […]
San Francisco Launches Ambitious Parking Reform Program
| | 2 Comments
San Francisco is lunging out of the parking dark ages. Backed by the mayor and city council, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency is launching "SFpark," a comprehensive, curbside parking reform project encompassing ten city neighborhoods. Starting in September, the $23 million SFpark program will use an array of new policies and technologies to raise […]