Here are the new congestion zones in Chicago, where taking an Uber will cost you $1.50 more

If your Uber tab is suddenly a little bit bigger, you’re not imagining things. As of this week, Chicago has rolled out two new “congestion zones” that tack an extra $1.50 onto many rides across large parts of the city—from Downtown and the North Side to Pilsen and Hyde Park.

The biggest change is an expansion of the old Downtown rideshare surcharge area, which has been around since 2020. Now, much more of the city falls inside the pay-up perimeter, including swaths of West Town, Bucktown, Lincoln Park, Lakeview, Uptown, the South Loop and Pilsen. On top of that, Hyde Park just got its own brand-new congestion zone, stretching roughly from Hyde Park Boulevard down to 60th Street, between Cottage Grove Avenue and Lake Shore Drive.

If your Uber or Lyft ride starts or ends in one of these zones between 6 am and 10 pm, seven days a week, you’ll pay an extra $1.50 for a solo ride. If you’re taking a shared ride, the added fee is 60 cents, but only on weekdays and only during those same daytime hours. Trips to and from McCormick Place are exempt from the new zones, though the long-standing $5 surcharge for rides connected to O’Hare, Midway, Navy Pier and McCormick Place is still very much alive and well.

The congestion fees are part of the city's newly approved 2026 budget, which swapped out some of Mayor Brandon Johnson’s original tax proposals for a mix of smaller, more targeted revenue boosters. Grocery bags now cost 15 cents apiece (up from 10 cents last year), with a penny of that going back to the retailer. Boat owners docking at city harbors are seeing the steepest jump of all, as the mooring tax leaps from 7 percent to 23.25 percent for most users. And starting in March, a new 1.5 percent tax will hit liquor, beer and wine bought for off-premise consumption.

There’s even a new tax aimed at social media companies that collect large amounts of data from Chicago users, plus higher taxes on sports betting placed in or near city venues. None of these fees will change your life on its own. But together, they add up fast—especially if you live, work or play inside one of Chicago’s newly crowned congestion zones.