Category City in Motion

The changes reshaping Chicagoland: transit projects, development, stadium moves, budgets, and what each one means for the people who live here.

Between Proposal and Ordinance, Chicago’s 2026 Position Book Moved by 51 — and 46 of the 51 Went to the Library

A grand public library reading room with green lamps and arched windows

The city publishes its 2026 position book twice - the mayor's proposal and the adopted ordinance. Read line by line, the whole difference fits one table: 27,975 annual positions adopted vs 27,924 proposed, the annual changes across eight departments summing to exactly +51 - 46 of them at the Chicago Public Library, which also gained 52,497 budgeted hours. Police unchanged at 13,727; the salary ladder unmoved; dollars up $8,622,575, or 0.22 percent.

Chicago Ran a Speedometer Made of Buses for Eight Years: 3 a.m. Is 7.5 mph Faster Than 4 p.m., and the Loop at 5 p.m. Averages 13.9

Slow rush-hour traffic with a bus on a wide Chicago arterial street at dusk

For eight years the city estimated arterial traffic speeds by analyzing GPS traces from CTA buses. The retired archive, read whole - 10,776,684 region-interval rows, 2018-2026: 3 a.m. averages 30.85 mph and the 4-5 p.m. hours tie at 23.33; the Loop is the slowest of 29 regions at 19.38 and Riverdale-Hegewisch the fastest at 33.41; the Loop at 5 p.m. averages 13.9. Every figure is an average of the tracker's estimates, not a driver's speed.

The CTA’s Own Daily Ledger: 11.06 Billion Boardings Since 2001, a Two-Million-Ride Day in 2008 — and a Recovery the Bus Is Carrying

A CTA elevated train curving above a street as a bus passes below

The CTA's one-row-per-day boarding ledger, read whole: 11,061,239,838 boardings across 2001-2025, a 2,049,519-ride day on July 3, 2008, a 110,047-ride Sunday in May 2020, a 2012 peak year and a 2021 trough - and a recovery the bus is carrying, with the bus share of boardings up from 52.1 percent in 2019 to 59.9 percent so far in 2026. Boardings are rides, not people; the CTA is a separate agency; dates are printed without events attributed.

Chicago’s Rideshare Roster: 86,195 Driver Records in June 2026, Little More Than Half Its 2017 Peak — and a Third of Them Recorded Zero Trips

Parked sedans on a wet Chicago street at night

The companies must report their eligible drivers to the city monthly, and the register runs 12,014,008 driver-month rows since 2015. June 2026: 86,195 driver records - 6.5 per active chauffeur license, and little more than half the March 2017 peak of 154,619. A third recorded zero trips, 29.5 percent drive for more than one company, 57.9 percent started within a year, 40.9 percent list Chicago addresses, and every row reads Independent Contractor. The file has no name column.

Chicago’s Chauffeur Register Holds More Expired Licenses Than Active Ones — 13,758 to 13,274 — and Its Oldest Active License Record Was Issued in 1965

The empty driver's seat of a parked Chicago taxi at dusk

Behind every licensed Chicago cab is a second license: the person's. The Public Chauffeurs register holds 29,935 license records - 13,274 ACTIVE, 13,758 EXPIRED, 941 DENIED - with the oldest active record issued in 1965, 44 percent of active licenses minted since 2022, half of active records listing addresses outside Chicago, 149 active pedicab chauffeurs, and 161 horse-drawn rows the file still remembers. The name and sex columns were never selected.

In Chicago’s Big-Building Energy File, 769 Buildings Wear Four Stars and 564 Wear Zero — and 542 Didn’t File for 2023

Chicago high-rise windows lit unevenly at dusk

The city's energy-benchmarking file is a report card on 3,852 big buildings, one row per building per reporting year. In the 2023 vintage: 769 buildings wear the 4-star placard and 564 wear zero; 2,584 filed and 542 did not; the average K-12 school scores 25.3 points below the average office; one building records a perfect 100; and the filers sum to 637 million square feet and 4.59 million tons of reported greenhouse gas. The file's last portal update: February 5, 2025.

In June 2026, a Chicago Taxi Mile Cost $4.17 and a Rideshare Mile $4.21 — and the Fare Dollar Split Opposite Ways

A Chicago taxi crossing a downtown river bridge in late-afternoon light

In June 2026 a mile in a Chicago taxi cost $4.17 and a mile in a rideshare $4.21 - 3.4 cents apart, computed from the city's own trip files by the identical formula. The money splits opposite ways: 81 cents of the taxi dollar is metered fare; 60 cents of the rideshare dollar is fare and almost 35 is the additional-charges line. Plus: the taxi mile is up 9.3 percent since 2024, two airport-area community areas supply a fifth of pickups, about 2,900 cabs are working, and cash tips all but never reach the file.

Chicago’s 2026 Budget Carries 27,924 Annual Positions. The Employee File Runs 1,546 Below It at the Police Department Alone — and the Top Budgeted Salary Belongs to the Aviation Commissioner.

The marble lobby and brass elevator doors of a grand Chicago municipal building

The mayor's 2026 budget proposal carries 27,924 annual positions - plus 3.2 million budgeted hours and 794 budgeted months this page never adds to them. Beside the August employee file: police budgeted 13,727, on payroll 12,181. Police Officer is 31 percent of every budgeted position; the top budgeted salary is the Aviation Commissioner's $350,000, above the superintendent and the mayor.

Chicago’s Taxi Medallions, Sale by Recorded Sale: A $357,000 Median in 2013, $6,000 in 2026 — and the File’s Most Frequent Seller Is the City Itself

Parked Chicago taxis on a side street beneath elevated train tracks on an overcast day

The city records every taxi-medallion transfer it processes: 5,729 closings since 2007. The median recorded sale was $357,000 in 2013 and $6,000 in 2026 - a 98.3 percent collapse, with transfers nearly stopping (21 in 2015) before prices gave way. One medallion fell from $380,000 to $12,000; the file's most frequent seller is the city's own BACP. Prices from positive-price sales; 166 $0 transfers counted apart.

The Ten Chicago Community Areas With the Most City-Listed Affordable Rental Units: Grand Boulevard Leads With 2,406 of 29,550 — and Humboldt Park Has the Most Developments, 48

A Chicago boulevard with a grassy median lined by brick apartment buildings and greystones

Grand Boulevard holds 2,406 of the 29,550 units on the city's Affordable Rental Housing Developments list - 8.1 percent - and Humboldt Park has the most developments, 48. The ten community areas with the most city-listed units, with development counts beside them, from the city's list as updated December 30, 2024; listed units, not availability; eleven areas carry none.

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