Politics
Key City Panel Agrees to Expand Use of Cameras to Ticket Drivers Blocking Bus, Bicycle Lanes
(Page Light Studios / iStock)
An effort to use automated cameras to ticket drivers who block bicycle and bus lanes is set to become permanent and expand citywide under a measure approved unanimously Friday by a key City Council committee.
Members of the Chicago City Council’s Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Committee agreed that data proves the pilot program, dubbed Smart Streets by city officials, should not be allowed to expire in December and should expand throughout the city.
The measure now heads to the full City Council for a final vote on Wednesday. Footage captured by the cameras would not be used for any other purposes or shared with federal agencies, officials said.
Drivers blocking bicycle and bus lanes 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.
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.
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, officials said.
More than 50 CTA buses are set to get the cameras, said Molly Poppe, the CTA’s chief planning and innovation officer.
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.
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
