Killing Two Birds With One Stone

Here's a bit of a shock that would make Naomi Klein proud: parking meter rates in Chicago are set to quadruple.

Two-third of the city's meters now cost 25 cents an hour, but once the paperwork is finalized, any metered spot costing less than $1 per hour will increase to $1 next year, city officials said today. And by 2013, those same metered spots will cost $2 an hour, according to City Hall.

The most expensive meters, which are found in the Loop, cost $3 an hour now. They will increase to $3.50 an hour next year and $6.50 by 2013.

Mayor Daley decided to semi-privatize parking meters by leasing them to Chicago Parking Meter LLC for 75 years which will bring the city a cool $1.1 billion. Apparently Chicago's financial hole merited desperate action.

We should try this in Madison. Those who claim that the city is a socialist haven will see a city function handed over to private industry. And those who want measures to get people to drive less will see a dramatic increase in parking rates that could help their cause. It's a win-win situation.