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Transit governance reform bill surfaces, but without a revenue source (Updated x3)

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* Organized labor will not back a transit bill that doesn’t address the upcoming fiscal cliff. And, so far, this bill has no revenue source(s) attached to it…


The bill reforming the governance structure of Chicago area mass transit agencies just dropped for those who are interested. Looks like they've settled on the name "Northern Illinois Transit Authority." Get your Ctrl+F function ready as it's 804 pages: https://t.co/SwCHZixQWq

— Brenden Moore (@brendenmoore13) May 28, 2025

Anyway, tell us what you think about what’s in the bill.

…Adding… From Isabel: Some excerpts from the transit reform plan…

The Authority shall appoint the members of the Transition Working Group by April 30, 2026.

The Service Boards shall work closely with the Authority and provide all relevant data and information necessary to complete the transition plan. The Authority shall have access to and the right to examine and copy all books, documents, papers, records, or other source data of a Service Board relevant to any information submitted under this Section.

The transition plan shall evaluate and propose a transition plan for each of the following:

As part of the development of the transition plan, the Authority and the hired third party shall evaluate the existing policy processes performed by the Authority and each of the Service Boards and develop a process for efficient and effective operations by both the Authority and the Service Boards for:

More on the police force…

The Cook County Sheriff shall establish a multijurisdictional NITA Law Enforcement Task Force led by the Cook County Sheriff’s Office in cooperation with the Chicago Police Department, the METRA Police, the Illinois State Police, the Sheriff’s Offices of other counties in the metropolitan region, and other municipal police departments in the metropolitan region. Law enforcement agencies within the metropolitan region not explicitly named in this subsection may participate on the Task Force upon request of the Cook County Sheriff.

The Task Force shall be created under an intergovernmental agreement and be dedicated to combating violent and other types of crime with the primary mission of preservation of life and reducing the occurrence and the fear of crime on the public transit system of the Northern Illinois Transit Authority. The objectives of the Task Force shall include, but shall not be limited to, reducing and preventing violent crimes and other illegal activities. The Task Force shall also assist and coordinate with the Chief Transit Safety Officer in the Chief Transit Safety Officer’s efforts to enforce the Authority’s and Service Boards’ codes of conduct and to solve quality of life issues for transit riders and staff.
(c) The Task Force may develop and acquire information, training, tools, and resources necessary to implement a data-driven approach to policing, with an emphasis on:

The Task Force shall recognize and use best practices of community-oriented policing and procedural justice. The Task Force may develop potential partnerships with faith-based and community organizations to achieve its goals, including, but not limited to, partnering with social service organizations, to assist persons experiencing homelessness obtain shelter and other services and to assist persons experiencing a mental health or behavioral crisis in connecting with appropriate services.

…Adding… WTTW…

The bill calls for NITA’s board to have five directors appointed by the mayor of Chicago, five appointed by the governor, five appointed by the Cook County Board president, and one director each appointed by the board chairs of Kane, Lake, McHenry, DuPage and Will counties. They must have “diverse and substantial relevant experience and expertise for overseeing the planning, operation, and funding of a regional transportation system.”

And, it will lessen the onerous farebox recovery ratio requirement, which mandates that some 50% of operating revenue come from passenger fares — far higher than peer agencies around the U.S. The bill sets an initial benchmark of 25%.

The measure calls for developing a plan by Jan. 1, 2028, to create a dedicated police force. It also creates a transit ambassador program, an effort many passengers and transit advocates have clamored for as a way to improve rider experience, as well as assisting people sheltering on the system. And it gives NITA the authority to participate in transit-oriented development, a move many transit advocates had hoped to see. […]

The language of the bill is clear about delegation of authority, saying that the NITA “has ultimate responsibility for providing the metropolitan region with a high-quality public transportation system” and “shall have the final responsibility for allocating duties among” CTA, Metra and Pace.

…Adding… Subscribers got the heads-up this morning. Tribune…

For nearly five years, the Chicago Transit Authority paid a small group of employees to stay home and not work at least two days a week, a state watchdog found.

The employees in question worked in the agency’s “vault operations” unit, which is responsible for processing money taken from CTA fareboxes. Those workers could not actually perform any of their assigned duties from home, but were nevertheless assigned to work remotely at least two days a week since the beginning of the pandemic, continuing to do so even after the agency-wide return to office date in May 2022, according to a report from the Office of Executive Inspector General.

A total of 10 employees were paid just under $1.13 million for days they spent not working since the start of the pandemic, the OEIG found. The bulk of the payments were made between the onset of the pandemic and the agency’s return-to-office date in May 2022, but the employees were paid $303,932 for remote work between May 2022 and Feb. 1 of this year. […]

“Although paying employees may have been necessary in the very beginning of the pandemic, the CTA’s payment for no work continued week after week for five years,” the report said. “No justifiable reason for this continued payment was provided in any CTA documents or by any of the relevant CTA employees interviewed.”

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, May 28, 25 @ 11:28 am

Comments

  1. So the Chicago Transit Board would have the mayor would get 3 members (and need council approval), the governor getting 1, and the county board getting 2 members.

    Also looks like a new Transit Police department is in the works.

    Comment by Chicagonk Wednesday, May 28, 25 @ 11:54 am

  2. Governor Pritzker will be well into his second Presidential term before this is ever implemented

    Comment by DuPage Saint Wednesday, May 28, 25 @ 11:57 am

  3. Compelling the transit agencies to “cooperate” is a recipe for disaster.

    Every bureaucrat, public and private, understands that.

    Comment by Thomas Paine Wednesday, May 28, 25 @ 12:00 pm

  4. ===Compelling the transit agencies to “cooperate” is a recipe for disaster.===

    Depends on how it’s done. Your blanket statement seems pretty odd.

    Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, May 28, 25 @ 12:03 pm

  5. This appears to gut the way paratransit is operated today. Currently portions of paratransit are provided via third party services such as Uber. This bill would eliminate the ability to provide those services. That will increase costs for paratransit, both for the systems and the rider. That should cause substantial issues for the disability community.

    Comment by observer Wednesday, May 28, 25 @ 12:07 pm

  6. I hope they took an axe to salaries and placed a cap of $100,000 on any given year (the $400,000 horror stories and excessive overtime is terrible)

    Comment by Here here Wednesday, May 28, 25 @ 12:08 pm

  7. It appears membership from the individual transit boards now will serve concurrently on the new NITA. That along with the expanded authority of NUTA seems designed to break down the silos between the various boards

    Comment by SpiDem Wednesday, May 28, 25 @ 12:12 pm

  8. ==Compelling the transit agencies to “cooperate” is a recipe for disaster. Every bureaucrat, public and private, understands that.==

    I’ve been a “low level” bureaucrat since before the millennium. I dont have any idea what you are talking about. Could you elaborate?

    Comment by low level Wednesday, May 28, 25 @ 12:13 pm

  9. There is a way to both raise revenue and reduce violence. Just raise alcohol excise user fees to match those in Washington State. Ban alcohol advertising and marketing. Close taverns earlier. End sales of small bottles of liquor. Most of the violence in our society is alcohol related. The Liquor excise fee in Illinois is $8.55 a gallon or a dime a drink.In Washington State the User fee is $36.55 a gallon. More revenue, less violence is a win-win the general assembly doesn’t want to discuss. They find raising income and death taxes more acceptable. This would raise more than $800 million and reduce violence.

    Comment by Jack in Chatham Wednesday, May 28, 25 @ 12:14 pm

  10. “Pritzker will be in his second presidential term before this is implemented.” So you are saying it will never happen?

    Comment by Captain Obvious Wednesday, May 28, 25 @ 12:23 pm

  11. - There is a way to both raise revenue and reduce violence. Just raise alcohol excise user fees to match those in Washington State. -

    Dude, this is a post about transit reform. We get it, you hate alcohol, but you don’t have to bring it up with every topic.

    Comment by Excitable Boy Wednesday, May 28, 25 @ 12:28 pm

  12. To Observer:

    See Sec. 5.25. Dial-a-ride service program. Page 322

    Comment by Matty Wednesday, May 28, 25 @ 12:39 pm

  13. Why on earth, when you are in massive need for revenue, would you lower the amount that your customers have to contribute? The fare box recovery is reduced to 25%. This means funding must be increased in other areas to make up for it. If you use it, you should at least have major skin in the game.

    Comment by Jeb Wednesday, May 28, 25 @ 12:42 pm

  14. Jack in Chatham…Washington State is only that high because they privatized State owned liquor stores, under legal pressure from Costco but Washington legislature wanted to keep their store profit revenue. Didn’t have anything to do with health and welllness, or with transit reform.

    Comment by ChicagoBars Wednesday, May 28, 25 @ 12:45 pm

  15. I may not live in Chicago but I travel for work, family obligations and pleasure. When in Chicago I often catch a bus or hop an El ride. Even if I don’t I am grateful for the Mass transit without which the traffic congestion would be unmanageable. Liquor is a stable revenue source. The taxpayers are subsiding alcohol sales. Sober adults deserve discounts on insurance premiums too.

    Comment by Jack in Chatham Wednesday, May 28, 25 @ 1:10 pm

  16. Question: a specific Pace bus route had no drivers this morning. Hence no bus running.

    You couldn’t find this information from the mobile site, I had to dig around on the desktop site. This is an absolute customer service failure.

    How will this be fixed with the exciting new organization?

    Comment by Jerry Wednesday, May 28, 25 @ 1:13 pm

  17. Awesome to see the People Over Parking Act included in the omnibus!

    I mapped the areas around transit that would be relieved of mandates for car parking in new developments here:
    https://misterclean.github.io/people_over_parking_2025/parking_minimums_map.html

    Also, the bill would empower agencies to become real estate developers. This is a proven value-capture model in Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Singapore. It’s actually how JR turns a profit on their private railways in Japan!

    Comment by Michael McLean Wednesday, May 28, 25 @ 1:25 pm

  18. What does this mean for the revenue side?

    Comment by DS Wednesday, May 28, 25 @ 1:39 pm

  19. This is an amazing bill. I hope it passes.

    Comment by Stopped by a train in Franklin Park Wednesday, May 28, 25 @ 2:22 pm

  20. Im still waiting to hear why bureaucrats would be unable to implement this…

    Comment by low level Wednesday, May 28, 25 @ 2:24 pm

  21. Observer - are you talking about the Rideshare Access Program? I don’t think there’s anything in the bill that would preclude RITA from continuing that.

    Comment by Jeremy Glover Wednesday, May 28, 25 @ 2:29 pm

  22. “Depends on how it’s done. Your blanket statement seems pretty odd.”
    How it is done will be accomplished by the same rank & file staff who do it now. Those folks have spent several lifetimes trying to develop a unified pass, coordinated schedules and routes going where people go. ALL NEVER DONE
    It will be fun to watch Marshall Dart form a new police dept.

    Comment by Annon'in Wednesday, May 28, 25 @ 2:32 pm

  23. So there will be a “transition plan” proposing another “transition plan” that will establish a “process” for the “necessary coordination” required for the creation of a universal fare instrument.

    I remain skeptical, especially considering current required a universal fare instrument for seniors by March 2012.

    Comment by Don’t hold your breath Wednesday, May 28, 25 @ 3:24 pm

  24. === Your blanket statement seems pretty odd. ===

    Sorry, let me clarify.

    If you are compelling them to comply, it is not “cooperation.”

    Without true cooperation, The Locals are incentivized to sabotage reform efforts.

    Its always best to find a win-win, that is why corporate mergers involve buyouts, parachutes and severance. Decades of experience have taught them that loyalty does not come overnight, but cooperation can be bought.

    Comment by Thomas Paine Wednesday, May 28, 25 @ 4:25 pm

  25. Giving the Governor appointments to the RTA is a good idea. The RTA has to work with the State a lot so having a direct line through the Board is a nice way to ensure alignment.

    However, it doesn’t make sense to me the Gov has appointments to CTA, but not Metra nor Pace.

    If it were me I would let the local boards be appointed at the local level, and the RTA at the state level, which also ensures independence for the oversight agency.

    Also - kudos to whoever spent a lot of time writing all of this. I wonder who paid for all that work before it went to LRB.

    Comment by Just Me 2 Wednesday, May 28, 25 @ 5:07 pm

  26. - corporate mergers involve buyouts, parachutes and severance. -

    What are you talking about? These are public agencies created by law, not private companies merging.

    The legislature could abolish each of them entirely and start fresh if they so desired.

    Comment by Excitable Boy Wednesday, May 28, 25 @ 8:22 pm

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