The Chicago congestion tax is a per-trip surcharge the city adds to rideshare and other for-hire passenger trips that start or end inside one of two designated Congestion Zones between 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. As of January 6, 2026, a single rideshare ride inside a zone during those hours carries a $1.50 congestion surcharge on top of the $1.13 citywide base tax, for a total of $2.63 per trip. Shared rides pay less, and rides outside the zones or outside the daytime window pay only the base tax.
What Changed on January 6, 2026
The old “Downtown Zone” is gone. On January 6, 2026, the city renamed it the Congestion Zone, expanded it well beyond the Loop, and added a second zone on the South Side. The single-ride surcharge itself dropped from $1.75 to $1.50, but it now applies seven days a week rather than only on weekdays. For most regular riders, the wider footprint and full-week schedule outweigh the smaller per-trip amount.
Under the previous rules, the surcharge zone was a compact rectangle bounded by North Avenue, Lake Michigan, Desplaines Street, and Roosevelt Road. The 2026 boundary is much larger and catches trips that used to be tax-free, including rides entirely between residential North Side neighborhoods.
Current Rates for Rideshare Trips
Every rideshare trip in Chicago owes a base tax. Trips touching a Congestion Zone during active hours owe an additional surcharge on top of that base.
- Single ride base tax: $1.13 per trip, citywide.
- Single ride congestion surcharge: an additional $1.50 when the pickup or drop-off falls inside a Congestion Zone between 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m., seven days a week. Total: $2.63.
- Shared ride base tax: $0.53 per trip, citywide.
- Shared ride congestion surcharge: an additional $0.60 when the pickup or drop-off falls inside a Congestion Zone between 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. on weekdays. Total: $1.13.
Choosing a shared ride during congestion hours saves about $1.50 per trip in taxes alone. Rides outside the 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. window, or entirely outside both zones, still owe the base tax but skip the surcharge.1City of Chicago. Ground Transportation Tax
One asymmetry to watch: the shared ride surcharge is weekday-only, but the single ride surcharge runs all seven days. On weekends inside a zone, a shared rider owes only the $0.53 base while a solo rider pays the full $2.63. Weekends are the most expensive time to ride alone.
Airport and Venue Surcharge
Rideshare trips that pick up or drop off at O’Hare International Airport, Midway International Airport, Navy Pier, or McCormick Place carry a flat $5.00 per ride surcharge. It applies to both single and shared rides and stacks on top of the base tax. A single ride picked up at O’Hare owes $1.13 plus $5.00 at minimum, and can also owe the $1.50 congestion surcharge depending on the drop-off location and time. That means a solo airport pickup during congestion hours can add up to $7.63 in ground transportation taxes before the fare itself.2American Legal Publishing. Municipal Code of Chicago 3-46-030 Tax Imposed
Navy Pier and McCormick Place are excluded from Congestion Zone One because they carry this separate venue surcharge instead.
Where the Congestion Zones Are
The formal boundary descriptions run for pages in the municipal code. In practical terms:
Congestion Zone One
Zone One covers most of the North Side and near-downtown neighborhoods. The southern edge runs along 31st Street and State Street, then follows 18th Street west to Western Avenue. The western boundary follows Western Avenue north to Diversey Avenue, then jogs to Ashland Avenue and continues north to Foster Avenue. The eastern boundary follows Lake Shore Drive and the Lake Michigan shoreline. If you are anywhere in the Loop, River North, West Loop, Pilsen, Logan Square, Wicker Park, Lincoln Park, Lakeview, Wrigleyville, Uptown, or Andersonville, you are inside Zone One.3City of Chicago. BACP TNP Congestion Zone Boundaries Subject to Surcharge Notice
Congestion Zone Two
Zone Two is much smaller and covers the Hyde Park area, roughly bounded by East 60th Street, South Cottage Grove Avenue, and East Hyde Park Boulevard. It captures the University of Chicago campus and the commercial corridor around it. The same rates and hours apply in Zone Two as in Zone One.3City of Chicago. BACP TNP Congestion Zone Boundaries Subject to Surcharge Notice
Which Vehicles Pay
The underlying ground transportation tax applies to any for-hire vehicle carrying passengers for payment in Chicago: rideshare platforms like Uber and Lyft (classified as transportation network providers), licensed taxicabs, livery vehicles, and charter buses. Suburban and out-of-state taxis picking up or dropping off in the city must also register and pay.4City of Chicago. Suburban Taxi, Livery, and Charter Bus City of Chicago Tax Registration Emblems
The congestion zone surcharges described above apply specifically to rideshare trips. Chicago taxicabs are taxed under a different structure based on vehicle licensing, paying a monthly fee rather than a per-trip surcharge. Food delivery, package delivery, and other non-passenger transport are not covered, because the tax is defined around carrying passengers for hire.
How You Actually Pay It
Riders do not pay the city directly. The rideshare app calculates the applicable taxes based on where and when the trip starts and ends, adds them to the total fare, and the platform remits the money to the Chicago Department of Finance. The tax appears as a line item on your receipt, though some apps bundle it under a general “taxes and fees” label.
Ways to Pay Less
The expanded zones catch a lot of riders off guard. A trip from Wicker Park to Lincoln Park, entirely within residential neighborhoods, now counts as a congestion zone trip if it falls between 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. A few ways to keep the tax down:
- Choose shared rides. The tax savings alone are $1.50 per congestion zone trip on weekdays, and the fare itself is usually cheaper.
- Time your trips. Rides before 6:00 a.m. or after 10:00 p.m. skip the congestion surcharge entirely, every day of the week.
- Reconsider airport pickups. The $5.00 venue surcharge at O’Hare and Midway stacks on top of everything else. Public transit from either airport is a fraction of the cost.
- Check your receipt. If you were charged a congestion surcharge on a trip that started and ended outside both zones, contact the rideshare company.
The rate structure is designed to push riders toward pooled options and off-peak times, and for anyone doing the trip regularly the difference is real. A single-rider commute inside Zone One during working hours costs $1.50 more per trip in tax than the same commute shared, which runs past $60 a month before the fare gap is counted.