CTA Plea for Aid Comes Amid Last-Minute Capitol Rush
By Jon Hilkevitch, Chicago Tribune
May 30–Chicago Transit Authority officials took their doomsday plan to slash service and increase fares to Springfield on Tuesday as prospects for new state transit funding looked increasingly bleak before the legislature’s scheduled adjournment Thursday.
Before departing for the state capital, CTA President Ron Huberman outlined to the transit agency’s board the measures he thinks would be the least painful for riders while enabling the CTA to operate beyond mid-September if state lawmakers do not increase transit subsidies.
The measures include $20 million in fare increases, $15 million in service cuts, deferring $56.9 million in bus and train renovations and cutting $18.1 million in administration and other areas to address a $110 million budget gap.
Ridership would plummet by an estimated 260,000 rides a day under the CTA contingency plan, which boosts fares to as much as $3.25 on trains during peak travel hours and suspends service on 63 bus routes and on the Yellow and Evanston Express rail lines.
“There are only so many levers we can pull” to balance the budget, Huberman told the board.
He and CTA Chairwoman Carole Brown said they are optimistic progress is slowly being made toward a funding breakthrough to help provide more than $200 million in operating assistance to the CTA, Metra and Pace.
But when a reporter asked Tuesday for names of those in the General Assembly working on the transit agencies’ behalf, Huberman and Brown declined to identify individuals.
Their refusal came as three Democrat state lawmakers from Chicago — Sens. Martin Sandoval and Antonio Munoz and Rep. Greg Harris — held a news conference in Springfield calling on Gov. Rod Blagojevich and legislative leaders to reach a transit funding agreement.
Last week, Regional Transportation Authority Chairman Jim Reilly and RTA Executive Director Steve Schlickman also contended there is broad state government support for better transit services and that progress is being made on funding, but they too declined to name any legislative backers.
State Rep. Julie Hamos (D-Evanston), chairwoman of the House Mass Transit Committee, advocates increasing taxes for mass transit along with reforms at the RTA and the three transit agencies.
House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) earlier signaled that he would consider helping the CTA in exchange for an overhaul of its badly underfunded employee pension fund. Huberman produced a plan to increase employee contributions, reduce health care benefits and save the CTA $32 million annually.
But the attention of lawmakers is focused on trying to pass a state budget by Thursday, and education and health care appear to have trumped mass transit funding as the top issues.
jhilkevitch@tribune.com
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