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* The cuts are coming…
Regional Transportation Authority chairman Jim Reilly said Thursday the wave of service cuts and fare increases that will start hitting mass transit users next week will not be the last.
“You ain’t seen nothing yet,” he warned.
The RTA board Thursday approved revised 2007 budgets for its agencies — the Chicago Transit Authority, Pace and Metra. The move patched a $220 million deficit but did so on the backs of riders by charging higher fares and pulling buses off the streets. […]
It will not get any better if the General Assembly fails to provide the CTA, Metra and Pace with more money, RTA officials said. The three agencies will be back before the RTA board in another month to start preparing for even deeper cuts and fare increases to balance their 2008 budgets.
* More…
As they have for months, Reilly and other transit leaders held out hope that the legislature would pass comprehensive transit funding. But Thursday was the deadline for the RTA to formally approve the service boards’ budgets, which included fare increases and service cuts.
Reilly blamed the inaction on legislative leaders and the governor, who “have a problem agreeing on many things.”
A Sept. 4 hearing is scheduled on the transit legislation, which calls for increasing local sales taxes and Chicago real estate transfer fees.
* Dire warning…
CTA Chairman Carole Brown said that without additional funding, the agency would be hard pressed to stay in business, let alone ferry Olympic athletes around the city.
* Some of the CTA cuts…
Under the new fare schedule, El riders using cash and transit cards will be charged $3 during new peak hours. Chicago Card holders will pay $2.50. Monthly passes are set to increase to $84.
Riders can also look forward to longer commutes and the elimination of 39 regular bus routes, as the RTA approved layoffs for 600 Chicago Transit workers.
At the meeting, CTA officials said the moves were likely to force tens of thousands of riders to find other ways to get to work and school every day.
* Pace cuts…
Pace, the bus agency serving suburban Chicago, said the first round of fare increases is scheduled to take effect in mid-September, with rates going from $1.25 to $1.50; bus routes will be axed beginning about Oct. 1. Rates could increase to $2 after the first of the year.
* More…
On Sept. 16:
•Pace local and Metra feeder fares rise to $1.50, ADA service fares increase to $3, vanpool fares jump 10 percent
• Metra reduces repairs and expansions by $60 million
• CTA lays off 600, raises fares to $3 on rush hour trains, cuts 39 bus routes
On Sept. 29:
• Pace stops 29 main routes
On Oct. 1
• ADA service slashed to within three-quarters of a mile of regular routes
• CTA passes no longer accepted by Pace
Dec. 3:
• Pace cuts all Metra feeder routes (about 80 in all)
* Some suburban legislators want action…
With just two weeks before PACE implements dramatic fare increases and service cuts, several legislators joined together in calling for an opportunity to vote on Senate Bill 572, legislation that would adequately fund the Regional Transportation Authority and streamline operations at the three transit boards.
“Our work in Springfield isn’t done until the looming transit crisis is addressed,” said State Representative Ryg, Democrat from Vernon Hills. “We are working together, for the sake of commuters, especially seniors and persons with disabilities, who rely on transit across the region, to ensure we have an opportunity to vote on legislation that will prevent devastating service cuts.”
“With the second worst traffic congestion in the country, we need transit options,” said State Representative Mathias, Republican from Buffalo Grove. “If PACE implements service cuts in September, it will mean even more cars on overloaded roads already buckling with congestion.”
* And a rally is planned…
Representative Julie Hamos has announced a transit funding rally for Tuesday, August 28, at 11:30 a.m. at the Thompson Center Plaza. Mayor Daley, DuPage County Board Chair Robert Schillerstrom, Representative Hamos and Representative Sid Mathias (House Mass Transit Committee Minority Spokesperson) are the featured rally rousers.
posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Aug 24, 07 @ 10:02 am
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How many doomsdays can we have in one summer? First the state was suppose to shutdown, but didn’t.
Now the RTA doomsday. How about cutting some of those high-priced heads you employ?
Comment by Doomsdays & Proclamations Friday, Aug 24, 07 @ 10:11 am
And who in the legislature is foolish enough to trust the Gov. or Sen. Jones on a vote for the CTA/METRA/PACE
Seems like their budget blunders have doomed the transit system.
Comment by Casey Jones Friday, Aug 24, 07 @ 10:18 am
Extra! Extra! Democrats continue to cut their own political throats! Extra!
Comment by Anon Friday, Aug 24, 07 @ 10:24 am
I’m sorry, but has anyone considered what future there is in mass transportation? We all praise it, and we all feel really wonderful when we use it, but the VAST majority of us use personal transportation - not mass transportation. We want personal transportation in this age of personal choices, don’t we?
When we consider how urban utopias were presented to us as kids, they always came with wonderful mass transportation devices. Hovering busses, monorails, electric coaches, and a nuclear powered taxi or two. This thinking came from an era when people lived close to one another and did little mass commuting. Stores were on corners, across from the church we attended. Mass transportation just fit this design, didn’t it? When you consider the average size of a European country, it isn’t a hardship to travel across one of them in a stainless steel tube, across from an undeodorized stranger. Chicago is bigger than many of these places, btw.
We all pay fealty to mass transportation because we have been told we are supposed to pay fealty to it. We were taught to share, hold hands and drink Coca-Cola on mountaintops too. But if you look at what we do daily, we don’t see much support for it. Are we supporting mass transportation because we feel guilty for driving our own cars? Is our support for mass transportation like eating rice cakes - something we do after binging on chocolate chips?
Let’s be honest. Rally all you want in front of any building you want. You might even get some needed infastructure improvements for riders. But at least do so with a clear understanding that the vast majority of Illinois taxpayers are chipping into Chicagoland transportation systems out of guilt, not necessity.
How long do we have to pretend that we care about this? How long do we have to support a massive bureaucracy shelling out millions to massive companies to haul around our butts when we need a cleansing transportation moment?
In this age of smug eco-freaks driving their Toyota Piouses, it is time for some honesty regarding our transportation needs. Grandstanding and demanding more fealty to attone for our transportation “sins” just isn’t going to cut-it anymore.
Comment by VanillaMan Friday, Aug 24, 07 @ 10:34 am
VM, there is no way enough roads could ever be built to avoid the eventual gridlock that will encompass the Chicago metro area. We are already in a non attainment zone for air quality. Asthma and other obstructive lung disease run rampant in all age groups. Mass transit is the way to leverage the our country’s economic future. We don’t have nough revenue to maintain the 50 plus year old road infrastructure we have. Where are we going to find the cash to keep building more?
Just because bureacrats have mismanaged our public transportation infrastructure and financing doesn’t mean that it can’t work efficiently. Go to Brazil, Japan, or Europe to see how it can be done.
Wait till more cars are on the road in the coming months…people will have a new appreciation for
public transit…I remember the the CTA strike in the late seventies…you are entertaining VM, but dead wrong on this post…
Comment by Loop Lady Friday, Aug 24, 07 @ 10:54 am
Someday….maybe someday…we’ll see mass transit as we saw in the movies “Star Wars and 5th Element”…oh well…let’s all dream together
Comment by Siyotanka Friday, Aug 24, 07 @ 11:07 am
Let me get this striaght. Perople who use personal transportation have to absorb the costs of rising purchase costs for their vehicles, increased maintenance and insurance costs and skyrocketing fuel costs.
People who use public transit are entitled to no fare increases, ever?
What makes them so special?
When shipping a package via UPS there is such an item called fuel surcharge. At the bare minimum there needs to be an increase in fares to cover the higher fuel prices.
It is important that the ridership be held to maintain a participation in at least half the operational costs of the transportation system. Frankly, over time it needs to move to higher percentage.
A good first step would be to have a staffing professional go through the system and weed out whatever deadwood there is in the ranks.
Comment by plutocrat03 Friday, Aug 24, 07 @ 11:58 am
How much money does the CTA get from the City of Chicago every year?
Comment by Johnny Cakes Friday, Aug 24, 07 @ 11:58 am
News flash: the planet is running out of oil. The age of personal transportation will be coming to an end over the next few decades whether you like it or not. The rich and those who are willing to spend huge chunks of their income on transportation may still be able to drive around in personal cars, but that option won’t be available for many, many people.
In addition, public transportation produces much lower per-passenger emissions–an ever more critical concern as the climate crisis worsens.
Public transportation is about to get a lot more important, not less.
Comment by Captain Obvious Friday, Aug 24, 07 @ 12:08 pm
Let’s just see what happens when the CTA, Metra and Pace cut services not only in 2007, but next year, and defer capital needs.
Really, this should be fun.
Then come back and talk to me about the supposed tyrannies of funding mass transit for the state’s most populated and economically important region.
Comment by tom73 Friday, Aug 24, 07 @ 12:16 pm
People who use public transit are entitled to no fare increases, ever?
The CTA raised fares in 2003 and again in 2005.
I’m all for going through the deadwood at the CTA (starting with all Degnans), but no other transit systems in the country have a farebox recovery ratio as high as the RTA/CTA/Pace, I believe. And I’d be shocked if gas taxes and other vehicle fees in Illinois provide 50% of total expenditures on road construction, maintenance, and associated expenses.
Oh, and we transit riders are special because we keep cars off the street and produce less pollution per person. (You’re welcome.)
Comment by Captain Obvious Friday, Aug 24, 07 @ 12:20 pm
Prices for CTA and RTA fares are rising because of the increased costs of energy such as diesel and electricity. I pay myself when the price of gas goes up for my car for errands, work or recreation. Why can’t the citizens that use public transportation pay for their own price increases for transportation for errands, work or recreation? If they can’t afford it, maybe they should cut back expenses like my family.
Comment by Blogless Friday, Aug 24, 07 @ 12:24 pm
So fare increases in 2003 and 2005 make it ok to screw property owners with yet another real estate transfer tax (which is really just a hidden property tax)???
My costs at the pump have gone up steadily for years. Who do I see about subsidizing me every time I have to fill my tank? (God forbid I pay my own way, or take any responsibility…)
And as far as riders being special, spare me the environmental martyr complex! What about people who walk or ride a bike to work? Who should we over-tax to buy them milk and cookies for doing their good deed?
Comment by Nick Naylor Friday, Aug 24, 07 @ 12:43 pm
===My costs at the pump have gone up steadily for years. Who do I see about subsidizing me every time I have to fill my tank? (God forbid I pay my own way, or take any responsibility…)===
Let’s see, there’s the US Navy in the Persian Gulf…
Also, every time you drive on a highway, street, bridge, etc. you’re being subsidized. Don’t kid yourself.
Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Aug 24, 07 @ 12:46 pm
Also, don’t forget the corn/ethanol subsidies.
Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Aug 24, 07 @ 12:49 pm
Also, Nick, every time fares go up, more people drive to work. If you think traffic is bad now, double RTA, Metra and CTA fares and see what you get. A friggin’ nightmare.
Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Aug 24, 07 @ 12:50 pm
This will be the Chicagoland’s version of the downstate electric rate rise.
Comment by Frank Cheddar Friday, Aug 24, 07 @ 1:30 pm
I AIN’T BUYIN IT! I don’t understand why it is the responsibility and burden of the taxpayers and the General Assembly to balance the budget of any one of the mass transit agencies. Nobody gives a rats hind-end if my home budget isn’t balanced. The General Assembly isn’t going to bail me out if I fail to balance my budget. I say let the people who use it pay for it. Oh man, I almost forgot - people are entitled. We must all work so the entitled people can be entitled. FREE HEALTHCARE - SIGN UP HERE!!!! Barf!
Comment by Say WHAT? Friday, Aug 24, 07 @ 1:53 pm
Nobody is asking that the government come in and bail them out personally. That’s fallacious reasoning. And as far as subsidies for car drivers, see my comments above.
Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Aug 24, 07 @ 2:05 pm
Say What–does your idea hold true for every other program funded collectively by tax dollars? If not, I urge you to reconsider your “theory.”
You are right: Let’s just all go our own way and da*n the consequences or any notion that we are in this together–which the reality of our system.
This superficial, faux libertarian attitude I keep seeing in the debate about mass transit is rather tiring and contrary to the reality of how the world works.
But hey, if you think the state would be better off with the Chicago area’s economy becoming worse through more gridlock and its related effects, who I am to argue?
Comment by tom73 Friday, Aug 24, 07 @ 2:07 pm
It is a simple matter of re-distribution. We continue to vote for candidates that run on promises of re-distribution of wealth, why are we suprised when they want to follow through?
Comment by Capitalist Pig Friday, Aug 24, 07 @ 2:07 pm
I say let the people who use it pay for it.
Well, almost right. The people who benefit from it should pay for it. And in the Chicago region, that’s everybody. You could not sustain a population of our size without mass transit, and everybody benefits from our size and diversity of industry and jobs.
Maybe you’d like to move to North Dakota? I hear the taxes are really low there. Have fun.
Comment by Kuz Friday, Aug 24, 07 @ 2:08 pm
The plan for a regional sales tax is the best idea, by the way. Transit stops increase property values and spur business creation, which helps bring in more revenue.
Comment by Kuz Friday, Aug 24, 07 @ 2:14 pm
The only people who benefit from mass transit are those who breathe, or those who drive.
Comment by Legaleagle Friday, Aug 24, 07 @ 2:56 pm
Wow, Jim Reilly is still around. That’s amazing.
Comment by Just My Opinion Friday, Aug 24, 07 @ 3:15 pm
Ouch! I thought my last post would be fun. It was extremely short lived. Thank you. Can someone explain honestly why the General Assembly is responsible for balancing the budgets of Metra, CTA and PACE. I am truly seeking an answer to that question. Just a question - no sarcasm this time.
Comment by Say WHAT? Friday, Aug 24, 07 @ 3:40 pm
The gas tax, which funds road, highway and bridge construction, has not been increased since 1993. If anything, the transit system has asked more of its riders through regular fare increases, than the highway system has asked of its users.
Comment by Transit Supporter Friday, Aug 24, 07 @ 4:11 pm
I suppose people are going to stop taking public transportation to drive to downtown Chicago, Midway or O’Hare Airports with fare increases of a couple bucks a day. Instead, they’re going to pay for gas, a car note, auto insurance, vehicle maintenance and parking–which costs between $30 and $35 dollars a day alone. This doomsday scenario will have little effect on traffic because most public commuters will pay the small cost fare increase, take alternative routes and save the large difference between the high costs of driving. This doesn’t add up–a couple of bucks or $30+ dollars a day.
Comment by Blogless Friday, Aug 24, 07 @ 7:39 pm
Say WHAT? — The General Assembly is responsible for balancing the budgets of Metra, CTA and PACE for the same reason it is responsible for balancing the budget of the Illinois Department of Transportation — to move people and enable a strong economy. The only difference is that public transit can move the same number of people for less money and with less pollution. And since the RTA is a separate agency created by the state and not a Department, it’s budget is easier to scrutinize, while drivers are totally clueless about the IDOT budget that subsidizes their transportation.
Comment by Huh? Friday, Aug 24, 07 @ 10:27 pm
Look at Denver for an example of how to run a transit agency. A few years ago voters approved a massive bond issue to pay for building a light rail and commuter rail system from scratch (well, there are two lines currently operating). When build out is complete in ten years, there will be rail to every corner of metro Denver. This has been on the drawing boards for 20 years, and the time was finally right to implement it. Imagine that, a government agency that actually plans for the future and cares about serving the public. And I think it show that there is a need and a demand for transit.
Comment by Fed Up Saturday, Aug 25, 07 @ 12:09 am
“News flash: the planet is running out of oil. The age of personal transportation will be coming to an end over the next few decades whether you like it or not. The rich and those who are willing to spend huge chunks of their income on transportation may still be able to drive around in personal cars, but that option won’t be available for many, many people.”
Have you any idea how long we have been hearing and reading the above?
Since 1920!
News flash? No. Just someone hoping our world will come to an end so they can point fingers at us and feel really righteous!
Comment by VanillaMan Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 10:16 am