A new tax on Uber and Lyft rides officially went into effect Monday, giving Chicago the highest rideshare fees in the country.
Starting Monday, an Uber, Lyft or Via ride will see a surcharge of $1.25 for a solo trip, which is up from the previous tax of $0.72 per ride. You'll pay slightly less in taxes now if you take a shared ride ($0.62 instead of the previous $0.72). A single-passenger ride downtown between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. on weekdays will cost riders an additional $1.75 per trip and $0.60 for a shared ride.
The downtown areas that will see the additional fees are outlined below.
The taxes, which were passed last year as part of Mayor Lori Lightfoot's 2020 budget, are aimed at reducing downtown traffic congestion and encouraging people to take shared rides and public transportation. Part of the revenue generated from the new taxes will go into improving Chicago's public transportation system, the city said.
"The new ground transportation tax structure is a good first step toward tackling the challenge of downtown traffic congestion," Chicago Department of Transportation Commissioner Gia Biagi said in a statement.
Uber and Lyft have been critical of the additional taxes in Chicago. A statement by Uber to ABC 7 Chicago said that the new tax "amounts to by far the highest ridesharing fee in the country and will take money out of the pockets of riders, who rely on apps to get around, and of drivers -- half of whom live in the south and west sides of the city."
A statement from Lyft said that it "shows a total misunderstanding of what causes congestion and how Chicagoans are moving around the city."
