Council committee backs raising Chicago cab fares by 20% to save ailing taxi industry

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Chicago taxicab fares https://chicago.suntimes.com/fran-spielman-show/2026/02/12/chicago-taxicab-industry-fare-hike-proposal-business-affairs-commissioner-ivan-capifali" >could soon rise by 20% — the first rate hike in a decade — to save a once-dominant industry whose monopoly was, as one City Council member put it, “eviscerated” by Uber and Lyft.

Downtown Ald.

Brendan Reilly (42nd) cast the only dissenting vote as the measure won backing from the Committee on License and Consumer Protection Monday, even after he acknowledged that the city’s failure to raise cab fare rates has made it “increasingly difficult for drivers to maintain their livelihood and meet regulatory standards” imposed by the city.

“As someone who tries to support the taxi industry in the wake of Uber and Lyft, more often than not when I enter into a taxicab — a medallioned vehicle — I have a driver refusing to pull the flag,” Reilly said. “It is after I identify myself and what I do that driver — sometimes they’ll agree to pull the flag So, I wonder for the average citizen of Chicago what their experience might be.”

Business Affairs and Consumer Protection Commissioner Ivan Capifali told Reilly, “ The same thing has happened to me in my personal life.

It is something that this ordinance is looking to address” with a fine that would increase ten-fold — from $100 to $1,000 for failing to start the meter.

Reilly was not assuaged after Capifali acknowledged under questioning that BACP has only five investigators assigned to police 3,000 taxicabs, and was unable to tell Reilly how many tickets those investigators have written to punish drivers who fail to pull the flag when a passenger enters.

“To be clear, I’m sympathetic to the taxicab industry because they’ve been eviscerated by Uber and Lyft.

I certainly don’t want to do anything more to hurt that industry than the city already had.

I am sympathetic to the need to adjust rates so the drivers can make a living,” Reilly said.

“However, when we see rampant abuse and flouting of the law, it makes it harder for me to extend that sympathy towards voting for a substantial fare increase.”

The fare hike poised for full Council approval on Wednesday was introduced by Mayor Brandon Johnson last fall while public attention was focused on the battle over his 2026 budget.

It has languished in committee ever since — until Monday when Capifali told the License Committee that the first fare hike in a decade was desperately needed to accommodate the “high cost of everything,” from insurance, vehicle maintenance and replacement to skyrocketing fuel prices.

The mayor’s plan would maintain the cost of entering a cab, known as the “flag pull,” at $3.25 for the first one-ninth of a mile, but provide substantial relief for cab drivers in other ways.

That includes a $2.50 rush hour fee for rides between 3:30 p.m. and 7 p.m., a $1 overnight fee for rides between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. and increased charges for both time and distance.

Instead of 25 cents for each additional one-ninth mile, passengers would pay 31 cents.

Another 31 cents would be tacked on to the fare for every 45 seconds instead of 20 cents for every 36 seconds.

Shared rides for “a minimum of two passengers” would also rise — from $24 to $30 from O’Hare Airport to downtown or McCormick Place — and from $18 to $22 from Midway to downtown or the convention center.

The cost of shared rides between Midway and O’Hare would rise from $37 to $45.

The cost of cleaning up a cab after an inebriated or unruly rider would double — from $50 to $100.

“I appreciate the vomit fee doubling.

I don’t think you can clean anything for fifty bucks.

But I do think we need a new name,” said North Side Ald.

Bennett Lawson (44th).

Lawson said the $1 fuel surcharge imposed by former Mayor Lori Lightfoot whenever gasoline prices rise above $5 a gallon for one month would remain in effect under Johnson’s plan.

“We’re getting there.

Five dollars a gallon is not far off if the trend continues.

I kind of want to put a point on that for my colleagues and others.

On top of this, we’re going to get a fuel surcharge soon,” Lawson said.

The License Committee also authorized BACP to issue "provisional city licenses" to 253 restaurants, bars, and bowling alleys with an ancillary liquor license to install https://chicago.suntimes.com/city-hall/2026/03/12/video-gambling-battle-chicago-city-council-brandon-johnson-license-committee-rejection" >video gambling terminals while waiting for the Illinois Gaming Board to approve their permanent VGT applications.

The alternate budget approved by the City Council majority that rejected Johnson's corporate head tax assumed that the city would generate $6.8 million in licensing revenue, but the Johnson administration remains opposed to the plan and hasn't moved on it.

"We passed VGT. It's in the budget.

We need to start to get some revenue from it as soon as possible or we're going to have more budget problems than we already have," Lawson said.