Victory! Expansion of Smart Streets program for citywide, permanent camera enforcement of bus/bike lanes and bus stops is a done deal.

Last Friday, the Chicago City Council’s Traffic Safety Committee unanimously voted to expand the Smart Streets Pilot Program’s, camera enforcement of bus/bike lanes and bus stops in the central city, so that it eventually becomes a permanent, citywide program. Today it went to the full council for the final decision.

The Smart Street expansion plan.

Currently, the initiative involves cams mounted on CTA buses and City vehicles, which issue tickets to cars and trucks parked or standing in bus and bike facilities. (State legislation would have to be passed to legalize cam enforcement of driving in these lanes and stops.)

While some other news outlets have reported that the bill involves the camera enforcement of “double parking,” that’s only true if the double parking in question involves a paint-only, non-protected bike lane located on the left side of parked cars. “The program is not currently enforcing double parking [when no bike or bus lanes are present],” Chicago Department of Transportation spokesperson Erica Schoeder told Streetsblog this afternoon. “You’re right they may be confusing it with parking/stopping in bus and bike lanes, and bus stops, which are all being enforced.”

Committee Chair Ald. Daniel La Spata (1st) who co-sponsored the ordinance with Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th), heralded the win in an email to constituents. “This program has issued over 140,000 citations and generated roughly $2 million in revenue,” he write. “And 82 percent of drivers who get a warning never get a ticket and 64 percent of those that get a first ticket never get a second.”

This morning, Vasquez held a press conference about the legislation at City Hall. Several other alders and civilian Safe Streets advocates gave speeches in support of the bill.

“We support the proposed expansion of the Smart Streets ordinance,” said ATA’s W. Robert Schultz III during the presser. “Many times, when I’m a rider on the Chicago CTA bus number 66, it’s especially frustrating to be delayed when [drivers] park illegally in clearly marked red bus lanes. The Smart Streets program can help buses move faster in designated lanes and protect people biking from [having to make] potentially deadly maneuvers around vehicles parked in bike lanes.” 

Streetsblog live-posted parts of today’s City Council hearing. During Traffic Safety Chair La Spata’s (somewhat hard for a lay person to understand), presentation to the Council, the Smart Streets expansion ordinance was passed unanimously without the need for a full vote. Vasquez’s office and CDOT’s Schroeder confirmed this great news.

Here’s what I was able to record from La Spata’s uncharacteristically low-key presentation on the subject: “…passage of this item by the first, most favorable roll call vote from the Committee on Finance, and the associate unsuccessful motion to reconsider the vote.”

“Hearing none, so ordered,” responded Mayor Brandon Johnson.”

(Sorry, but I haven’t done enough reporting at 121 N. LaSalle St. to be 100-percent-fluent in Chicago City Council lingo.)

Update 10/15/26, 10:45 AM: Chris Ridgeway, La Spata’s former political communications director and current co-chair of Chicago Bike PAC, explained what took place: “If you’re not used to it, it can sound like a maneuver, but it was standard procedure for a non-controversial pass with no individual roll call vote.”

But anyway, this is a great step forward for making bus and bike travel in our city safer and more efficient, which will likely save lives and prevent heartbreak. It will also make riding buses and bikes in our city a lot more pleasant. Congratulations to Ald. Vasquez, Ald. La Spata, and the Chicago sustainable transportation advocacy community for getting this done!

“Expanding the Smart Streets program citywide is a no-brainer,” Vasquez said in a statement. “We know that enforcing bus and bike lane violations changes driver behavior. The Smart Streets pilot showed that over 80 percent of drivers who received a warning did not commit a repeat violation. Now, with the citywide expansion, we have the ability to go after the companies who have proven to be repeat offenders. I truly believe this legislation will save lives, and I’m enormously proud that we were able to get it passed.”

Here are some more reactions to the win from other folks and organizations that helped make it happen.

“Bean” is the nickname for Lily Shambrook, 3, who lost her life on June 9, 2022. She was riding on the back of her mother’s bicycle when a truck driver obstructed the bike lane they were riding in on Leland Avenue in Uptown, which caused the fatal crash.

If you appreciate Streetsblog Chicago’s livable streets reporting and advocacy, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to support our work. Thank you!