October 2, 2008
CTA Faces City Council, Higher Fares In 2009?
CTA head Ron Huberman and other local transit officials faced the City Council today and faced criticism on potential fare hikes and the debacle that is the Block 37 project. On the subject of a fare increase, Huberman said:
Ultra-low diesel, which is what we use on our buses, has increased 80 percent. Next year, we will be spending $50 million more for the same quantity of fuel than we spent the prior year. Electrical costs are coming in over 25 percent higher than they were the prior year. That means that we will be spending $7 million more just for electricity,” Huberman said.“The real estate transfer tax is coming in substantially below what we had anticipated. The sales tax is coming in at nine percent below. And the free rides program is also impacting our bottom line. When you take a look at the totality of those factors, it is creating a very challenging budget year.”
“I cannot stand here today and say it’s going to happen. I can tell you we’re seriously contemplating it.
Oh, Ron, stop teasing and just say it: we'll be paying $2.50 a ride next year. RTA Chairman Jim Reilly was more direct, saying, “Going forward, we’re gonna vigorously utilize the enhanced fiscal oversight powers given to use to ensure that transit services are provided as efficiently as possible while also seeking to coordinate hopefully modest increases every few years to provide continuity for riders.”
As for the Block 37 station, on which $213 million has already been spent, there were harsh words from Ald. Thomas Allen (38th), who also serves as chairman of the council's Transportation Committee. "The peasants should be involved in the planning because the peasants ride the trains...We need more input on public transportation." Um, thanks? Allen also referred to the station as, "a hole in the ground." With the station's construction halted for the foreseeable future, the CTA admitted another $100 million would be needed to complete the project. You know, for a station that would provide trains to the airport. Kind of like what the Blue and Orange lines already do.
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I saw the hilarious story on Fox News at Nine about Huberman trying to boost his police pension in an appearance, with his lawyer, before the pension board.
He was trying to use his OEMC years and his CTA years as part "public safety," and thus, incredibly, to count them as CPD years. That way, he get a huge CPD pension that he clearly does NOT deserve.
If you were ever on the fence about whether or not Huberman is a lizard, you should have no doubt now.
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Peasants demand more cake! More cake in 08!
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When The CTA finally figures out that my taking the train from Chinatown to O'Hare shouldn't cost the exact same price as my taking the train from Fullerton to Diversey, I'll start having some sympathy for their plight.
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Pssst--RalphWiggum hates poor people. Pass it on.
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It's nice to see the council take a stand on this Block 37 thing $213 million into it. Too bad they didn't have any say in this at the beginning.
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I agree, Ralph. Are we the only major metro system that DOESN'T have fare zones?
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"When The CTA finally figures out that my taking the train from Chinatown to O'Hare shouldn't cost the exact same price as my taking the train from Fullerton to Diversey, I'll start having some sympathy for their plight."
If you are saying that there should be a strict distance based fare system on the CTA that would cost more for greater distances, that is a truly nutty idea. We had a discussion about this on CTA Tattler beginning near the middle of this thread: http://www.ctatattler.com/2008/08/sour-economy-co.html Of course, there might be some cases where it does make sense to charge higher prices. And travelling to or from O'Hare might be an example. But distance should have nothing to do with it.
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The real Ralph Wiggum is an idiot & the one here wants to emulate him.
NYC doesn't zone fares either!
Neither does LA!
In fact LA subways have no turnstiles at all!
To zone fares requires a totally different station design, which the CTA doesn't have & never will!
It requires a much larger exit area so all the people exiting can get through at the same speed they do so now. Otherwise they will jam up & get hurt in the crush of large numbers getting off in the Loop & major stations.
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Ralph, unlike the D.C. Metro (which has a ton of turnstyle thingies at every station) the CTA is really not set up to accomodate 80 people trying to swipe out of Belmont every three minutes. That's why the CTA will never be able to charge by distance travelled. I can't think of any transit system as old as the CTA that does that.
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Even if they could, they shouldn't. If you want to put exit turnstiles at O'Hare and Midway and charge an extra $1 or something there, go for it...but fare zones are set up for commuting, not for primary transit needs.
Plus, it would obviously penalize those who live in far out neighborhoods (the less-wealthy, as opposed to DC) while making commutes cheaper for those in Lincoln Park and such that don't need any help paying their fare.
The DC Metro's system of fare collection shouldn't be a model for anyone. What a disaster. Anything that requires me to look at a chart, look at my watch, and then do math, just to figure out if I have enough money to make the trip is not a good system.