Planet Money – “When Chicago Pawned Its Parking Meters”

Published: December 12, 2025
Hosts: Nick Fountain and Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi

Overview:

This episode of Planet Money digs deep into Chicago’s infamous 2008 deal to lease its parking meters for 75 years to private investors, including Morgan Stanley and later the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. Through interviews with journalists, city officials, and finance experts, the episode exposes how Chicago’s quest for fast cash during a crisis led to decades of regret, loss of city control, and became a cautionary tale about the perils and math of privatizing public assets.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Pattern: Chicago Sells the Future for Cash (03:03–05:02)

• Mick Dumpke, a Chicago journalist, recalls the city’s string of privatization deals before the meter lease.
  • Skyway Lease: The city leased the Chicago Skyway (a little-used toll road) for $1.8 billion, mostly impacting out-of-towners.
  • Downtown Parking Garages: Similarly, parking garages under city parks went for $560 million up front, also mostly affecting tourists.
  • General Attitude: “Mayor Daley was praised for it, and he remembered that praise and then proceeded to look for other stuff to sell off.” — Mick Dumpke (04:12)
• But with the parking meters, this hit regular Chicagoans—a key difference.

2. The Parking Meter Deal: Rushed Decision, Massive Scope (05:02–06:46; 13:59–18:23)

• In late 2008, during the Great Recession, Chicago announces plans to lease all 36,000 city parking meters for 75 years for a lump sum of $1.16 billion.
• The city council is given very little time to review the deal, which was pushed urgently as a solution to budget shortfalls.
• Alderman Scott Waguespack voices skepticism:
  • “This doesn’t feel right. This does not feel right.” (14:23)
  • The rapid pace left no room for deliberation; the 520-page agreement was delivered just two days before the vote.
• City hall’s leadership is described as evasive, with officials actively dodging council members’ questions.
  • “That guy turns when I start talking to him and literally runs out the door into the hallway.” — Scott Waguespack (15:27)

3. The Buyer’s View: Calculating 75 Years of Nickels and Dimes (09:15–13:53)

• Sadiq Waba, head of Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners, led the team that bid on the meters.
• He describes the challenge: how to value 75 years of uncertain parking meter revenue, using the concept of the “discount rate”—future revenues are worth less today.
  • “$100 two years from now is very different than $100 50 years from now… at a certain discount rate is very small.” — Sadiq Waba (13:07)
• Waba and his team calculated the present value and settled on $1.16 billion, winning the bid.

4. Ignoring the Alternative: The City’s Narrow Math (26:28–28:23)

• Aaron Feinstein, working for the Chicago Inspector General, investigates the deal.
• He discovers the city “did not consider” what the meters would earn if they kept and managed them, only what private bidders would pay.
  • “We did not consider what the value of the meters would be to the city if we had kept them...” — Aaron Feinstein (26:52)
• Using a more conservative discount rate, Aaron estimates the system’s true value was $2.1 billion, almost double what the city received.

5. The Fallout: Buyer Profits, City’s Regret (20:20–25:33; 28:03–30:27)

• The deal immediately brings pain: meter rates quadruple, meters malfunction, and locals protest.
• The city loses flexibility—moving a meter for a street fair, building a bike lane, or allowing a dumpster now costs the city real money.
  • “Do you feel like you’ve lost control of your streets?”—Nick Fountain (22:58)
  • “Absolutely.” — Scott Waguespack (23:01)
• City payments to the parking company have exceeded $160 million since 2009 for lost meter revenue tied to public events or changes.

6. Transparency and Discovery: The Abu Dhabi Twist (23:19–25:13)

• Waguespack uncovers, by accident, that 25% of the meter company had been sold to the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.
• The sale and changing of hands happened with little transparency; even sitting aldermen were unaware.
  • “I said, what does ADIA stand for?... Oh, that’s Abu Dhabi Investment Agency.” — Scott Waguespack (24:13)

7. Why Privatization Goes Wrong—and Hurts (30:27–32:48)

• Three main errors:
  1. The city over-discounted future profits.
  2. Lease term was too long—93% of value comes in the first half, so the second half is almost given away.
  3. The rushed crisis decision left little time for oversight.
• The public’s enduring anger isn’t just financial—it's because parking meters are a daily, visible nuisance.
  • “When you’re having to drive around the city and anywhere you pull up... you’re thinking, okay, hardly a dime of this is going to the city...” — Scott Waguespack (31:38)

8. The Legacy: A Deal for the Ages (32:15–32:48)

• The lease runs until February 29, 2084—creating a multigenerational burden for the citizens of Chicago.
  • “Instead of funding their own city, they are essentially renting back the space that used to belong to all of them, hour by hour...” — Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi (32:15)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Now, the first one, the groundbreaking one, happened when the city privatized the Chicago Skyway… And the Chicagoans who do use it are people going to their summer homes in Mich.” — Mick Dumpke (03:24)
• “Immediately, my BS antenna went up and I knew that we were going to have to take a closer look at this.” — Mick Dumpke (06:01)
• “I was getting the brush off from quite a few people because they’re like, look, Scott, come on.” — Scott Waguespack (16:10)
• “[The deal] got jammed through and the final vote was basically five people voting against it.” — Scott Waguespack (18:11)
• “It is the worst deal, I think, in municipal history in the United States.” — Scott Waguespack (29:58)
• “Instead of funding their own city, they are essentially renting back the space that used to belong to all of them, hour by hour at cutthroat rates until the meter contractually runs out on February 29th of 2084.” — Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi (32:15)

Timestamps for Important Segments

| Timestamp | Segment Description | |-----------|--------------------------------------------------------| | 03:03 | Privatization trend in Chicago begins | | 05:02 | Announcement of parking meter deal | | 09:15 | Buyer’s perspective: Sadiq Waba | | 13:59 | City council learns about and rushes to review the deal | | 15:27 | Officials evade questions; councilors alarmed | | 18:11 | City council approves deal—only 5 dissenting votes | | 20:20 | Immediate fallout: rate hikes, citizen outrage | | 22:58 | Loss of city flexibility—meter removals cost money | | 23:19 | Waguespack’s accidental discovery—foreign ownership | | 26:28 | Inspector General’s report: city ignored true value | | 28:03 | “Real” value was $2.1B—city left a billion on the table | | 29:58 | “Worst deal in municipal history”—lasting consequences | | 31:38 | Why privatization is so painful for the public | | 32:15 | Lease runs until 2084—Chicagoans as perpetual renters |

Analysis & Takeaways

• Chicago’s parking meter lease is a stark lesson in the dangers of short-term thinking, lack of robust analysis, and failure of transparency in public asset management.
• The deal shifted a visible, everyday public good out of city hands for generations, with little recourse. The city’s desire for fast cash overwhelmed their obligation to maximize long-term public value.
• The episode closes with a sobering reminder: public assets, when sold off rashly, can turn cities’ residents into customers for decades, with little to show for it.

For more:

• Book recommendation: Paved Paradise by Henry Grabar, cited by hosts as a compelling resource on the topic.
• Get Planet Money+ for bonus content and ad-free episodes: plus.npr.org/planetmoney