In a new report released by Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s office, Chicago’s mobility and transportation task force outlines their recommendations for how the city should incorporate and regulate new forms of tech-enabled transportation—from electric scooters to driverless cars.
Released Thursday, the report includes more than 50 recommendations, compiled through input from academic institutions, startups, transportation providers and advocacy groups.
The report asks that Chicago prepare for connected and automated vehicles by launching an autonomous vehicle pilot that exposes Chicagoans, visitors and businesses to the new tech, while also giving AV companies a place to test their cars.
Additionally, the report calls for the city to expand its shared-bike and dockless bike programs. Last summer, Chicago organized a dockless bike pilot in South Side neighborhoods for bike-sharing companies, such as Lime, Pace and Uber Jump. The pilot ended in October and the city has been collecting feedback from riders since.
In addition to bike programs, the report calls specifically for conducting a scooter-sharing pilot this year in a defined area of the city to collect data on how to safely ride them in Chicago. To help ensure a smooth roll out and reduce sidewalk clutter, the task force asks that clear policies be in place to regulate how and where they can be used. The report recommends scooter speeds be capped at 15 mph.
8 years ago, many of today’s transportation methods were not even being discussed. Today, they are all key points of discussion. Headed by former Secretary of @USDOT Ray LaHood, the Mobility Task Force Report ensures that Chicago will stay with the times of transportation. ? pic.twitter.com/BNruKes4aE
— Mayor Rahm Emanuel (@ChicagosMayor) March 14, 2019
To fund the new plans, the task force has proposed new taxes on car rentals and parking, as well as an increased state gas tax.
“Transportation is not free,” said Raymond LaHood, the task force's chairman, at a press conference on Thursday. “If you want good transportation, you have to spend good money.”
The idea is that taxes on single occupancy forms of transportation, like cars, will encourage use of shared options, like the CTA, pool vehicles and public bikes. In 2017, 49 percent of Chicago commuters drove alone, with the other half opting for public transportation, bikes, taxis and carpooling, according to the report.
Though the task force and its report has been spearheaded by Emanuel's administration, whether or not these proposals become reality is ultimately up to Chicago's next mayor. To help ensure that they might, the task force recommends that the new mayor, which will either be former federal prosecutor Lori Lightfoot or Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, establish a chief mobility officer.
“I’m really hoping that whoever is elected mayor will … hire a chief mobility officer—somebody who gets up every day and thinks about transportation and how to coordinate it,” LaHood said.
The city’s mobility task force, which was announced last year, is made of up of 20 members, including Brenna Berman, the executive director of City Tech Collaborative, and CDOT Commissioner Rebekah Scheinfield.
The task force and its guidelines in the report are designed to help the city incorporate new mobility technologies into Chicago’s existing transportation landscape as it continues to evolve with the addition of new methods.
"We were not discussing in 2011 dockless bikes or bike-sharing," Emanuel said at the press conference. "We weren't discussing ride-share vs. taxis. We weren't discussing scooters vs. electric cars. All of that is in just eight years and it's not going to slow down. It is only going to accelerate."
