"Technology welcome. Public cost without public benefit is not." Chicago Human Economy sets the terms for companies that use Chicago's streets, water and power. It launches Chicago Ride, a city rideshare and paratransit service whose drivers earn the Dignity Wage, the plan's living-wage minimum. Driverless commercial vehicles come in once the company has a plan to retrain and support the workers it displaces. Data centers must cool without using fresh Lake Michigan water, and at the grocery store a staffed checkout lane stays open whenever self-checkout is. The city sets rules for automation instead of just absorbing its costs.
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PART OF THE NEW BURNHAM PLAN
CONSTRUCT · SYSTEMS
Chicago Human Economy
Technology should make Chicago stronger, not just the companies using our streets, water and power.
Any company that uses Chicago's public resources does it on terms that give something back. That starts with Chicago Ride, a city rideshare run as a public benefit corporation, which competes with Uber and pays drivers the Dignity Wage, the plan's new minimum wage.
This policy isn't against technology. Technology that makes people more capable is welcome. So is technology that saves a company money, as long as the company doesn't push the cost of the people it displaces onto the public.
We've seen what happens when Chicago sets no terms. When Uber came, taxi drivers who had built their lives around a license the city sold them lost their livelihoods, and the value went to shareholders somewhere else. Driverless cars are coming whether or not Chicago has a position. Data centers draw public water and power at a scale that shows up in everyone's bills.
Chicago has leverage it's never used: its streets, its power grid, its water and its workforce. So driverless commercial vehicles come in once the company has a plan to retrain and support the workers it displaces. Data centers cool with closed-loop systems, recycled water or treated stormwater instead of fresh Lake Michigan water, and can't increase the amount of fossil-fuel power drawn from the grid overall. App platforms with more than a set number of Chicago workers have to offer a job as an employee, at the Dignity Wage, to any worker who asks. At the grocery store, a staffed lane stays open whenever self-checkout is.
It also launches Chicago Ride, a city rideshare where drivers are employees earning the full Dignity Wage from day one. There's no surge pricing, and rides to O'Hare are capped at $55.
WHAT IT WON'T DO
It doesn't ban anything. Rideshare apps, driverless vehicles and data centers can all operate here, on Chicago's terms.
It doesn't take away anyone's independence. Gig workers who want to stay independent contractors can.
It doesn't punish companies for using technology. The rules apply when a company pushes the cost of the workers it displaces onto the public.
Chicago Ride isn't another city department, and it doesn't run on your property tax. It's a city-chartered public benefit corporation. After one-time start-up money from the River Crossing Fee, the toll people who don't live in Chicago pay to drive across the Chicago River, it runs on fares, a 50-cent charge on other rideshare trips and its share of city sticker money for van upkeep.
How it connects
Nothing in this plan works alone. These are the questions people ask next, and the policies that answer them.
What's the wage standard? The Dignity Wage sets Chicago's minimum wage for adults at $30.53 an hour, 120% of what it costs one adult to live in Cook County, and adjusts every May 1 with the cost of living.
Dignity Wage →
Who owns the data the city produces? The Chicago Data & Technology Alliance gives Chicago co-ownership of its data and a share of the profits when companies build products on it.
Chicago Data & Technology Alliance →
If a company builds here, does the city share in it? The Chicago Sovereign Fund recruits companies that make what the city buys to build here, and the city takes an ownership stake in them.
Chicago Sovereign Fund →
What about the bus and the train? Enjoy the Ride puts uniformed Transit Ambassadors and police officers on the trains and builds heated shelters at the busiest bus stops. The Spine Line is a new subway under Western Avenue and 95th Street with a transfer to every L line.
Enjoy the Ride →
Spine Line →
Where does Chicago Ride's start-up money come from? The one-time start-up money comes from the River Crossing Fee. The Chicago Mobility Fund, the city vehicle sticker priced by weight, pays for van upkeep.
River Crossing Fee →
Chicago Mobility Fund →
FISCAL IMPACT
Revenue Generating
RENOVATION STEP
Construct · Systems
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01
Where it ranks
OUR PRIORITIES
#21 of 33
MEDIUM
48.8 / 100
Daily life
Long-term future
Reach
Unlocks
PROMISING It keeps the gains from automation and gig work with Chicago workers, and it starts Chicago Ride, a rideshare service that pays its drivers the Dignity Wage, the city's new minimum wage.
When you'd feel it: Year 2.
See all the priorities
How I set them
02
How it works
Chicago Ride
Chicago Ride is a city-chartered rideshare service set up as a public benefit corporation: a company legally bound to a public purpose, run apart from city departments. Drivers are employees on a W-2, not independent contractors. Full-time drivers (35–40 hours a week) can get a city-sponsored vehicle they own after three years, plus full benefits. Part-time drivers (20–34 hours) use their own vehicle. Flex drivers under 20 hours can stay contractors with a guaranteed per-trip floor, or ask to be employees.
How it's paid for
A one-time start-up seed of $15–20 million in Year 1 comes from the River Crossing Fee, the toll that people who don't live in Chicago pay to drive across the city's bridges over the Chicago River. It pays for the app, driver training, the paratransit vans and startup. After that, standard rides are paid for by fares, paratransit is paid for by a $0.50-a-trip surcharge on other rideshare platforms, and fleet maintenance comes from Chicago Ride's share of the Chicago Mobility Fund (the city's road maintenance fund, paid by the vehicle sticker), about $14 million a year. Federal money for the accessible vans is welcome, but the plan doesn't count on it.
Driver pay
Base pay is the full Dignity Wage, the plan's minimum wage for adults, about $63,500 a year full time ($30.53 an hour today), from launch. Chicago Ride is a city program, so its drivers get the full floor even while the citywide Dignity Wage phases in over four years. The same rule applies to Corps Leaders, the adults who lead teen groups in the Chicago Service Corps, the plan's civic service program for ages 10 and up. Pay rises every May 1. Paratransit-certified drivers earn an hourly wage of $34–36. Nights and weekends add $3–5 an hour. No tipping is expected.
Fares
Fares are $5 a mile for the first 5 miles, $3.50 a mile for miles 6 to 15, and $2.50 a mile after that. Rides to O'Hare are capped at $55 and to Midway at $40. There is no surge pricing: the price is set when you book. Fare changes need the Chicago Ride board's approval.
Paratransit
The city owns a fleet of 50 to 100 wheelchair-accessible vans at $45,000–80,000 each. Seniors and riders with disabilities book ahead by app or phone, and those shifts are reserved so on-demand rides can't crowd them out.
Where the vehicles go
Low-speed vehicles (small electric vehicles for short trips) and pedal cabs serve the Yellow Brick Road corridors, streets where people walking come first, up to the edge of each frunchroom zone, the area around a neighborhood's central public plaza. The frunchroom plazas themselves are for people on foot. Standard EVs handle cross-city trips and airport runs. The wheelchair-accessible vans serve paratransit citywide.
Gig workers get a choice
Any app platform above a size threshold, set by ordinance after talks with labor and the companies, must offer a job as a W-2 employee at the Dignity Wage to any worker who asks. Workers who want to stay independent contractors can.
Driverless vehicles
No driverless commercial vehicle (for hire, delivery or freight) operates in Chicago until the company shows a transition program for the workers it displaces: retraining, income support of at least the Dignity Wage while they retrain, and a rollout slow enough for retraining to keep up. Chicago Ride follows the same rule.
Self-checkout
Grocery and drug stores need one employee for every three self-checkout stations (the final ratio is set by ordinance), a 15-item limit at self-checkout, and one staffed lane open whenever self-checkout is. Fines start at $100 a day per unassigned position, up to $1,000 a day, after a 15-day chance to fix it. Large employers that cut customer-facing jobs overall through automation or AI pay a displacement fee into a Worker Transition Fund. The ordinance sets the fee amount.
Data centers
Data centers can't use fresh Lake Michigan water for cooling. They can use only closed-loop systems, recycled water or treated stormwater. They can't add any new fossil-fuel demand to the grid overall: their power has to come from on-site renewables, power bought through the city's own microgrid, or verified 100% renewable supply. Local hiring and community benefit agreements are conditions of zoning approval.
The city follows its own rules
Any AI tool the city uses to decide on a resident's benefits, permits or licenses must be publicly disclosed, with a person available to review a contested decision. City contracts for public-facing services give scoring credit to Chicago-based vendors that are mainly staffed by people.
03
What it costs
Chicago Ride start-up seed from the River Crossing Fee (one time, Year 1)
$15–20M
Standard rides
Fares
Paratransit operating subsidy
$0.50-a-trip surcharge on other rideshare platforms
Paratransit van purchase
50–100 vans at $45,000–80,000 each, from the start-up seed; federal Section 5310 transit grants welcome but not counted
Ongoing fleet maintenance
15% of Chicago Mobility Fund revenue, about $14M a year
One-time city seed
$15–20M
After the start-up seed, standard rides are paid for by fares, paratransit is paid for by the surcharge on other rideshare platforms, and the Mobility Fund share keeps the city-owned vans maintained. The self-checkout staffing, driverless-vehicle, AI and data center rules are regulations, and the policy gives them no program cost.
04
What it takes to make it happen
CITY COUNCIL
Pass the $0.50-a-trip surcharge first; Chicago Ride doesn't launch without it. Charter Chicago Ride. Pass the size threshold above which app platforms must offer gig workers W-2 jobs, the driverless-vehicle transition rule, the self-checkout staffing ordinance, the displacement fee and the data center zoning conditions. Using city vehicle sticker money for Chicago Ride's fleet maintenance depends on a legal review of what home rule lets the city spend sticker money on. That review happens before the Mobility Fund ordinance is filed.
MAYOR AND CITY DEPARTMENTS
Set up the Chicago Ride board, which sets vehicle standards and approves fares. Build the stormwater-to-industrial water program for data centers. Publish the city's AI disclosures.
SPRINGFIELD
The policy requires nothing from the state. The state is expected to act on driverless vehicles, and the policy's point is to set Chicago's terms first. The gig-worker and driverless rules will likely be challenged as beyond a city's authority.
WASHINGTON
Nothing is required. The Federal Transit Administration's Section 5310 grants could help pay for the accessible vans; that money is welcome, but the plan doesn't count on it.
VOTERS
No referendum is needed.
05
Timeline
FIRST
City Council passes the $0.50-a-trip surcharge. Chicago Ride does not launch until it does.
YEAR 1
The $15–20 million start-up seed from the River Crossing Fee pays for the app, driver training, the paratransit vans and startup. Driver certification starts through the Chicago Trades Pipeline, the plan's program for training workers in the trades. Paratransit service launches first, then standard on-demand rides at full fares.
BEFORE THE STATE AUTHORIZES DRIVERLESS COMMERCIAL VEHICLES
Chicago's rule requiring a transition program for displaced workers is already law.
EVERY MAY 1
Chicago Ride base pay rises with the Dignity Wage.
06
Where it's worked
Long Beach, California
Since September 2025 Long Beach has required one employee for every three self-checkout stations in grocery and drug stores. A city memo in August 2026 found 10 of the 13 retailers it contacted had shut their self-checkout lanes entirely. No store closures were reported.
SOURCE: PATCH, AUGUST 26, 2026 ↗
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Costa Mesa, California
Costa Mesa adopted a similar ordinance on February 17, 2026; it requires one staffed lane open whenever self-checkout is open, a limit of about 15 items per self-checkout purchase, and fines rising to $1,000 per employee per day.
SOURCE: CITY OF COSTA MESA, SELF CHECKOUT ORDINANCE ↗
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Illinois
The POWER Act (SB 4016/HB 5513), which would have made data centers pay to connect to the grid and bring their own clean power, died when the legislature adjourned on June 1, 2026. The Citizens Utility Board says ComEd and Ameren power prices are about 40–50% higher than two years ago, with data center demand one cause.
SOURCE: CITIZENS UTILITY BOARD, JUNE 2, 2026 ↗
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Chicago today
Chicago already charges rideshare fees. Since January 2026, rides in the city's congestion zones, which include downtown, carry a $1.50 surcharge between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. The $0.50 Chicago Ride surcharge would be on top of that.
SOURCE: ABC7 CHICAGO, JANUARY 2026 ↗
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07
Sources
Patch, August 26, 2026
City of Costa Mesa, Self Checkout Ordinance
Citizens Utility Board, June 2, 2026
ABC7 Chicago, January 2026
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