In an effort to crack down on the city’s generous travel reimbursement policy, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel introduced a measure that forces city employees to use public transit for work-related travel. Under the new program, employees who need to travel for meetings or assignments must use transit in order to be reimbursed—or provide a good explanation as to why they needed to drive. The guidelines, which will be built into the city’s 2012 budget, are expected to save $1 million each year.
The policy reflects two goals that have become apparent in the former Obama Chief of Staff’s brief tenure as Mayor of Chicago: reducing excessive spending while advocating mass transit and active transportation modes.
See the article from the Chicago Sun-Times.