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CTA President: ‘The governance model is not the problem here’ - RTA Chair: ‘Funding cures most ills’ (Updated)

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* Last year, the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning issued a comprehensive report on reforming and improving the area’s mass transit system. An important point that is kinda being lost in the din…

Importantly, in isolation, governance reforms cannot address the longstanding financial challenges northeastern Illinois’ transit system faces. The region needs more resources to succeed. Governance reform can, along with a suite of system improvement and funding solutions, maximize the efficiency of transit functions and strengthen responsible financial stewardship of scarce resources.

* But CMAP did recommend two options for transit agency consolidation…

Option 1: Integrate the RTA and the service boards into one regional transit entity

The service boards’ current service delivery responsibilities would be divided among service units. The regional agency would be represented by one board and one agency executive. To provide additional opportunities for input, the operating units could be represented by service committees that report to the regional board.

Option 2: Empower a regional coordinating agency to lead transit across the service boards

The three service boards would continue to exist as three separate agencies led by a regional coordinating agency. The service boards would provide transit operations and local service planning, while the regional entity would be strengthened with greater authority and resources to develop regional policies, coordinate comprehensive mobility planning, and allocate funding to the service boards. All four agencies would have their own agency executives and governing boards.

* The transit leaders pushed back hard on those ideas today during a Senate Transportation Committee hearing…

Pace Executive Director Melinda Metzger: Quite honestly, we’ve read the report. We all are in favor, I’m going to speak for us all, you guys can say I’m wrong, but we’re all in favor of doing what’s best for the customer. We all want to do the best job we can. I do not believe that combining us into one organization will make us better. First of all, we all have board members who are local, who understand the local needs, and they give us a lot of input. Secondly, we all have different service areas. I cover, you know, 3,500 square miles, 15 times the city of Chicago. To put us all under one board, the needs of the suburban areas of farther away areas will not be met as well as they’re met right now. The system needs more money. And its Pace’s obligation to provide service in the suburbs. And I think putting us all in one service board will make those needs in the outer areas not as important, not because we don’t want to do it. We all want to do a good job, but just there’s pressures in different organizations. I also believe that we have been very adaptive to what’s going on, because we have this vast service area, and we have some dense areas. We go into the city of Chicago and the suburbs around the city of Chicago, we serve in one way. We have other areas that have no density, yet they still need to have service they need to move people. And I believe that the system we have today allows the input so that we can cover all of our service areas.

CTA President Dorval Carter: The model that’s been set up for governance today didn’t come by accident. It was a really, hardly negotiated compromise between the need for accountability as well as the need for local control over the entities that quite honestly impact those residents the most. In my particular case, 90% of the riders of CTA live within the city of Chicago. The Mayor of the City of Chicago believes that he is responsible for public transportation, and the governance model for CTA reflects that. I believe that the City of Chicago and CTA are both of the opinion that the governance model is not the problem here. It doesn’t need to be adjusted. The issue is getting the funding levels to work the way they’re supposed to, which will drive the decisions that I think everybody wants to see happen here, along with the ongoing collaboration I think you have between our agencies as we as professionals work to find ways to make our service better, more convenient and more efficient to our customers.

RTA Chair Kirk Dillard: The president said it very, very well. Funding cures most ills, and as I said in my opening remarks, over a 40-plus-year period, multiple general assemblies, multiple governors and multiple mayors have set up this governance structure with lots of input for a reason. I certainly do not believe the Civic Federation’s number that they put out. As I told you, the RTA might have 90 employees. Of that 90, if you back out those who take care of reduced fares and do the clerical things that we do, it’s a handful of people that really have the oversight responsibility. There’s value in maintaining an oversight responsibility outside of the day to day operations. These folks are up to their eyeballs in alligators every day. It’s very similar to an external auditor reviewing an internal auditors work. One of the reasons we have the lowest operating cost per mile, aside from the fact that we have a funding problem historically, is that the RTA does help hold these folks accountable. And if you let the operations people determine the ultimate budget they’re going to want to spend. So some oversight by us is, but I agree with them, they certainly need more money, but the RTA system does hold costs down, even though we need to really, really ratchet up the operations funding and capital too of the system. But funding cures most of the ills that all of you in the public have spoken about.

Metra CEO / Executive Director Jim Derwinski: I don’t think I could have said anything more than my colleagues at the table here have said, other than the fact we just hit 40 years this year, and looking back and trying to understand how we were formed, why we were formed. I did a lot of reading as well, reading the General Assembly floor remarks from 1983 when we amended the RTA Act. I read a bunch of the materials from 1973 debates, and actually found a thesis paper that went back to the beginning of time, almost 1870 and what transportation looked like here in Chicago. And really the problem has never shifted. It is a funding issue. If we adequately fund the system, the operators can do the right things. And I think the one thing that we all get, maybe victims of our own success. We do operate the leanest system in the country. We keep getting, we keep making it happen when we don’t have the right resources. And because of that, certain other things don’t happen. But we keep being victims of their own success by running as lean as we run. So I don’t know where the savings would be, and the combination of a bigger board … But in either case, I think it’s important that the local representation, meaning in our case, the collar counties and suburban cook have some voice, and what happens with Metro operations, and that could get minimized or lost in a grand board.

Please pardon all transcription errors.

…Adding… ICJC…

In response to today’s Senate Transportation Committee subject matter hearing on how public transit supports the economy, the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition (ICJC) released the following statement:

“Today we heard four transit agencies defend a status quo that simply isn’t working for current or potential riders who want a system that is more safe, more reliable, and more affordable. The status quo isn’t working for taxpayers who are paying for duplicate bureaucracies performing overlapping functions instead of funding one agency that improves transit across Chicagoland,” said Dany Robles of the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition.

“We also heard from everyday riders who spoke about the essential role the region’s mass transit system plays in their lives. Transit is critical to our region’s economic vitality and an affordable, reliable public transit system is an irreplaceable tool to ensure equity and accessibility for everyone.

“The State of Illinois funds just 17% of transit operating costs, well below its peers. We know the path to more state funding starts with the reforms in the Metropolitan Mobility Authority Act.

“Without confidence in an efficient and equitable governance structure, we won’t be able to secure the funding to operate the world-class transit system we deserve.”

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Jul 9, 24 @ 1:24 pm

Comments

Why on earth is Kirk Dillard still RTA chair?

Comment by Excitable Boy Tuesday, Jul 9, 24 @ 1:31 pm
Sorry, but as a 40+ year customer of the CTA, I have absolutely zero confidence in Dorval Carter. He has said nothing which leads me to believe has any notion of how to fix the system.

Mind you, that criticism has nothing to do with his race. If Dillard thinks the status quo is acceptable, then he is an idiot also. Kirk is white, if I’m not mistaken.

Comment by low level Tuesday, Jul 9, 24 @ 1:39 pm
I would tell Dorval Carter to ride the CTA for a month and then tell me ” the governance model is not the problem here.” He’s had plenty of funding (pandemic funds) and the trains are as filthy as ever.

Comment by Terry Salad Tuesday, Jul 9, 24 @ 1:40 pm
Funding cures all.
Accountability on all spending with taxpayers money needs to be independently monitored.
Local politics only looks out for their own benefit.
Bigger picture for transportation needs to be looked at for the good of the passengers

Comment by Swede1 Tuesday, Jul 9, 24 @ 1:44 pm
The best things in life are free
But you can give them to the birds and bees
I want money
That’s what I want.

Comment by Socially DIstant watcher Tuesday, Jul 9, 24 @ 1:47 pm
The problem is that the RTA is not a truly independent oversight board. The politicians that appoint the three service providers directors appoint the same as the regional board, creating somewhat of a conflict of interest and guarantees the oversight body never challenges the status quo.

Note - this is not a complaint on the individuals who work at the RTA or individual board members; it is a structural problem.

Comment by Just Me 2 Tuesday, Jul 9, 24 @ 2:05 pm
Sorry, forgot to include my solution which is the service boards are appointed by local politicians like mayors and county chairs, and the oversight board is appointed at the state (or even federal) level. The Governor and legislative leaders would work fine.

Comment by Just Me 2 Tuesday, Jul 9, 24 @ 2:07 pm
Your love gives me such a thrill
But your love wont pay my bills
I want money

I can just imagine Dilliard singing this:

https://youtu.be/fVuSYUNAekc?si=O8lXRD6KI7MPMLR8

Comment by low level Tuesday, Jul 9, 24 @ 2:08 pm
I am a 5 day a aweek Metra rider.
The system barely works, and CTA doesn’t work.
It is time for reform.

Comment by Rahm's Parking Meter Tuesday, Jul 9, 24 @ 2:13 pm
Metzger, Carter, and Derwinski are only in it to save their own jobs. In reality, none of them are qualified (or, politically salvageable) enough to lead a new super-agency comprising all modes throughout the six-county area.

Also, Dillard had his fingers in too many cookie jars. Chair of the Skyway board, AND the RTA board; there are better qualified people out there.

Comment by Scooter Tuesday, Jul 9, 24 @ 2:21 pm
==- Terry Salad - Tuesday, Jul 9, 24 @ 1:40 pm:==

When is the last time you rode the L?

Comment by Google Is Your Friend Tuesday, Jul 9, 24 @ 2:25 pm
From my perspective downstate - there needs to be one central agency running the entire region with coordination between all the various modes of travel and better scheduling to allow fast transfer from service to service.

It would be nice to be able to park out in the burbs and ride a train straight into the loop, or have a quick transfer between trains to make that happen. As it sits now, I get to play a guessing game as to what service goes where and how they match up. Or I get to park at a sketchy “park & ride” CTA station with no security for parked vehicles.

Speaking of CTA - in the last 3 years I’ve enjoyed urine soaked cars, open smoking, drug dealers peddling up and down the train, and fighting with zero CTA officers in sight. This was on both blue and red lines in the downtown area. Let’s not even mention the the ghost trains and buses that my Google maps app and CTA info screens said should have been arriving, only for them never to show and me to sit for another 15-25 minutes waiting on the next one.

CTA needs new leadership, not more money. I went from using CTA frequently to only using it on very rare occasions.

As for the rest of the fiefdoms, I shouldn’t have to research multiple websites and schedules to try and figure out mass transit in a metro area. It’s unnecessarily complicated and embarrassing when compared to other modern metro transit systems.

Illinois needs to look at systems that work, like WMATA in DC (3 different states and multiple modes of transit) and figure out how to replicate that in Illinois.

Comment by SKI Tuesday, Jul 9, 24 @ 2:26 pm
One thing I was bummed didn’t come up much during that hearing Q&A with transit leaders was that they *are* fully funded right now, and free of farebox mandates, and (especially on CTA) the service is still deeply unsatisfactory (and stinky and often late).

This whole “Give us more money and all will be well” line of argument entirely ignores those agencies are coming off 2.5 years of unprecedented Federal operating funds support and it all got much worse.

It was a mighty struggle not putting any exclamation points in this comment, but not as big a struggle as getting CTA/RTA/Metra/Pace to drop the “it’s all sunshine and lollipops for our riders” farce that we saw today.

Comment by ChicagoBars Tuesday, Jul 9, 24 @ 2:28 pm
They keep complaining about funding, yet each agency’s fares are not indexed to inflation. Vehicle transit (motor fuel tax) is indexed but not public transit (fare prices). So every year they fall a little bit further behind.

This should be their first ask.

Comment by City Zen Tuesday, Jul 9, 24 @ 2:30 pm
I ride the Red Line nearly every day. From Wilson to the Loop and back in the evening. The train cars are filthy shelters and smokers take over after 9 pm.

Comment by Terry Salad Tuesday, Jul 9, 24 @ 2:43 pm
It’s not one or the other. Resources are needed, as is improvement in governance.

Why are so many incapable of seeing that it is possible to do both?

Comment by JoanP Tuesday, Jul 9, 24 @ 2:46 pm
=== Why are so many incapable of seeing that it is possible to do both? ===

People realize that there is no money for additional resources so the easy thing to do is blame the leaders for not doing enough with what they are already getting.

Comment by Hannibal Lecter Tuesday, Jul 9, 24 @ 2:48 pm
They GOT the money (thanks to the Feds during COVID). The Chicago service at least got (markedly) worse.

Now the same transit leader argument after unprecedented Federal support is that if they STILL get the money but this time from Springfield and not the Feds it will all suddenly get better? Bit of a stretch Hannibal.

=== Why are so many incapable of seeing that it is possible to do both? ===

People realize that there is no money for additional resources so the easy thing to do is blame the leaders for not doing enough with what they are already getting.

Comment by ChicagoBars Tuesday, Jul 9, 24 @ 3:06 pm
A lot of the complaints I’m reading in this thread are about the other passengers’ behaviors. Smoking, urine soaked trains, even the filth is largely attributed to inconsiderate riders. That’s hard to fix even with more money. As long as they can afford it, the inconsiderate will continue to ride and cause problems. Unless you put the conductors back on and arm them I don’t see that being fixed. Cops on cars is not popular because not all members of the CPD follow their policies.

It was largely the pandemic to a great degree who freed people’s ids and took all the normal people off the system. We never got back the social pressure that used to be there to conform or at least act halfway normal on transit.

Comment by cermak_rd Tuesday, Jul 9, 24 @ 3:15 pm
yeah, the structure of the transit operation IS a problem. If you can’t see that a different form of operation would be better you probably are just protecting your own….

Comment by Amalia Tuesday, Jul 9, 24 @ 3:34 pm
“It would be nice to be able to park out in the burbs and ride a train straight into the loop”

Parking lots near the Forest Park - DesPlains Ave terminal for the Blue Line. Last time I rode the Blue Line, parking was $2/day.

Comment by Huh? Tuesday, Jul 9, 24 @ 3:56 pm
“Parking lots near the Forest Park - DesPlains Ave terminal for the Blue Line. Last time I rode the Blue Line, parking was $2/day.”

It’s the same distance to drive to that lot vs driving direct to the heart of the City from downstate. Additionally, it’s not a secure lot - so spend all day on the L and come back to a smashed in window? Park & Ride only works if people feel secure in leaving their vehicle in the lot. A secure perimeter or security would help in that.

Give us a spot along I-55 near I 80 that’s nearly a direct run into the city. Imagine what you could do with something like that?

Amtrak isn’t bad going up, but there’s hardly any night options coming back if you want to get dinner or something. Then again, how do you get to CTA from Amtrak? Oh yeah, walk several blocks and hope the blue line is one time. Yet another shortcoming from near sighted fiefdom leaders.

Comment by SKI Tuesday, Jul 9, 24 @ 5:00 pm
=== Give us a spot along I-55 near I 80 that’s nearly a direct run into the city. Imagine what you could do with something like that? ===

Metra has over 90,000 park-and-ride spots throughout the region, including nearly 1,000 spots near Joliet Union Station where there are two different lines you can take into downtown.

Comment by StarLineChicago Tuesday, Jul 9, 24 @ 5:11 pm
I took the CTA Blue Line home from work last night and got the benefit of changing cars three times - since each of the first two cars I got in had people smoking (marijuana the first time, cigs the second). Got on the Blue Line this morning at Damen with a large group of commuters only to find that we could only occupy a portion of the car due to the fact that two homeless people were sitting on the floor directly next to the door on the opposite side of the car. As a daily CTA rider (and a homeowning Chicago taxpayer), I can tell Mr. Carter that this is not the way you’re going to keep those tax dollars in the city. And for those of you on here saying the “social pressure” isn’t there, it is. What we don’t have is anyone enforcing any of the rules or requirements that will encourage people to continue taking the “L.”

Comment by Just a guy Tuesday, Jul 9, 24 @ 5:31 pm
So, you want conductors walking car-to-car tossing people for breaking the rules…

….But you do not want to pay for it?

Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Tuesday, Jul 9, 24 @ 10:03 pm
===But you do not want to pay for it? ===

Don’t put words in peoples’ mouths here.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Jul 9, 24 @ 11:27 pm
==But you do not want to pay for it?==

Bro, I’d absolutely pay for it. Along with that increased funding, however, I’d feel more confident with a change in leadership at the agency.

Comment by low level Wednesday, Jul 10, 24 @ 10:12 am
Yellow Dog Dem - I would gladly pay more money to put a Conductor back on trains, as well as make sure we have more regular - and honest - schedules for those trains. But as Low Level noted, we also have significant deficiencies in leadership and accountability in the agency. Bring in someone who really knows transit, understands the changes the pandemic has brought, and figure out how to support the riders and those who see - and value - the CTA. I personally love that I can travel throughout the city without needing to take our car out of the garage. I’ll pay the money I’m not spending on gas, wear and tear, etc., to improve it. But IMPROVEMENT has to then happen - not word salad and empty promises.

Comment by Just a guy Wednesday, Jul 10, 24 @ 12:42 pm