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Not another backroom, shady parking meter deal

We are calling on Brandon Johnson and his administration to release the secretive parking meter deal information so everyone in the city can see it, have a voice, and make sure we don't sell off our parking meters to the next billionaires who want to wring money out of the pockets of Chicagoans and control the meters for another 57 years.

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Sign the Petition Against Another Shady Parking Meter Deal

Show City Hall that Chicagoans want our parking meters back, not another 57 years of control by billionaire companies and foreign nations.

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The Problem

Every time you feed a meter, Chicago loses.

Since the "Great Mistake of 2008," Chicago has leased its 36,000 parking meters to Chicago Parking Meters, LLC (CPM), a private consortium backed by Morgan Stanley, Allianz, and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, for 75 years in exchange for just $1.15 billion.

By 2024, those meters had generated nearly $2 billion for private investors who still have 57 years left on the deal. A 2009 Inspector General analysis found the city was paid conservatively $974 million less than it would have earned keeping the meters. Every dollar that flows to CPM is a dollar that doesn't fund our libraries, parks, or schools.

$2B+

Collected by private investors since 2008

57 yrs

Remaining on the 75-year lease

$25.2M

Paid to CPM for pandemic-era parking changes

Worse than the money leaving our city: we are legally trapped without control to adapt our streets. Install a bike lane, expand a sidewalk for outdoor dining, repair a water main, or host a street festival, and the city must write a "true-up" check to CPM for their hypothetical lost revenue.

Why Buy Back

Reclaim our infrastructure. Make life more affordable.

We need to buy our parking meters back, at a price that makes sense for our fiscal situation, to regain control of a key asset and ease the cost on everyday Chicagoans. Parking rates have made living in Chicago less affordable while investors maximize profit on the backs of our people.

  • Keep our money in Chicago. Stop sending revenue to billionaire investment firms and foreign sovereign wealth funds.
  • Control our streets again. Build bike lanes, EV charging, and pedestrian infrastructure without paying penalties to private investors.
  • Freeze or lower rates. If we own the meters, we control cost increases, not billionaire owners.
  • Turn a liability into an investment. With innovative upgrades, parking becomes a revenue source, not a drain on the city budget.
The Plan

Two ideas that flip the math in Chicago's favor

Conventional wisdom says the ~$3 billion buyback price is too high. But parking is no longer just a strip of asphalt for storing cars, it's a platform with massive untapped potential. Here's how we turn the purchase from a debt-ridden cost into an investment.

Upgrade ParkChicago with subscription tiers

$10/mo

Everyday Driver

  • Waived transaction fees
  • Extra buffer time at the meter
  • One ticket waiver per year

$30/mo

Rideshare & Delivery

  • 15-minute grace window for pickups and drop-offs
  • Dedicated pick-up/drop-off zones in high-density areas
  • Insurance against tickets while working

$50–100/mo

Power User

  • Access to high-demand spots in downtown and commercial hubs
  • Real-time GPS showing open spots near you
  • Partnerships with SpotHero and other parking services

By getting just a small fraction of Chicago's 1 million drivers to sign up, these upgrades could create $30–50 million in new recurring revenue every year, while giving people more choices, a better experience, and allowing us to freeze or lower rates at the meters.

Curbside EV charging at reclaimed meters

Thousands of Chicagoans want to drive EVs but can't because they live in apartments and condos without a garage to plug into at night. The city can start by installing 1,500 curbside EV charging stations as a pilot program, buying electricity at wholesale rates and selling at standard retail charging rates.

Every time a car plugs in, the city wins three times over: revenue from energy sales, the standard parking fee, and reduced carbon emissions as more people adopt EVs. This network could bring in $7.5 million annually and scale up as demand grows. We could even offer dedicated overnight charging spots on a daily or monthly basis.

The Math

How the numbers work in our favor

To finance the ~$3.2 billion buyback, the city could use a 40-year bond at 4.5% interest, an annual payment of roughly $144 million (interest-only) or $174 million (amortized). With new revenue streams, the math starts to work:

Current meter revenue

$161M

New app subscriptions

$33M–50M

EV charging profits

$7.5M–15M

Saved penalty fees

True-up checks we stop paying

$15M

Total annual income

$216M–241M

Our new income clears the bond payment and leaves room for operating expenses, with a multi-million dollar annual surplus. It doesn't raise property taxes, doesn't take a dime from the city budget, and gives us full control of a key public asset for decades to come.

What's Happening Now

We still have time, but we must act.

Current investors, including Morgan Stanley, Allianz, and the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, are trying to sell Chicago Parking Meters to New York investment firm Stonepeak Partners. Mayor Brandon Johnson's administration dropped out of the competition to buy the meters back after learning the asking price would be nearly triple the original $1.15 billion.

At least 22 City Council members have said they plan to reject the transfer to Stonepeak, accusing the administration of withholding critical information and agreeing to a June 30 deadline without informing the Council, the body that must vote on the transaction.

"We cannot afford to watch our public wealth get passed around global investment markets for another half-century."

City Council can review and reject the deal. The next mayor needs to tap into Chicago's immense business and financial expertise to pencil a buyback that makes sense. We are a city with world-leading financial experts, innovators, technologists, and a strong business community. We can and we must get our parking meters back.

Further Reading

Chicago Tribune Op-Ed Sun-Times Coverage
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Let's Take Back What's Ours

Add your name and help us build the momentum to buy back Chicago's parking meters.