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Yesterday evening, news broke of a deal between the RTA and Gov. Quinn providing funding so that the CTA could avoid fare hikes through 2011. Details of the deal haven't been announced - Quinn is expected to outline those in an afternoon press conference - but Greg Hinz at Crain's reports:
According to reliable sources, the deal involves the Regional Transportation Authority issuing bonds for capital projects that would be funneled to the CTA. That would allow the CTA to shift some federal capital funds into its cash-short operating budget, thereby avoiding the necessity to hike fares.As part of the deal, the state reportedly would help the CTA pay debt service on the RTA funds for at least a couple of years. Other monies would go to Pace, which has had trouble financing its para-transit operation.
Quinn told ABC 7, "It is important to anyone who takes public transit, but basically we're going to be able to hold down the fares for the next couple of years to make sure there isn't an increase, and we have to work with the CTA and other transit agencies and also want to make sure that our riders who have disabilities are able to ride without a fare increase." And though we exhale a sigh of relief over dodging $3 El and bus rides, there is still the threat of those looming service cuts. While the Trib and Sun-Times stories are short on any details, once again Hinz has an ominous phrase in his story, that the CTA, "would go ahead with about $90 million in service cuts." From the initial budget outline the CTA presented, those service cuts include:
- Eliminating express bus routes: X3, X4, X9, X20, X49, X54, X55, X80 and 53 AL
- Cutting back bus service hours by 13.7 percent (827,000 hours) and cutting back train service hours by 9.8 percent (57,803 hours)
The CTA had also previously announced cutbacks - including job cuts, furlough days, and unpaid holidays for non-union employees - in an attempt to save as much as $122 million. So while avoiding the fare hike will be the deal that Quinn can hang his hat on heading into February's gubernatorial primary, the service cuts will still loom large for a transit agency struggling to find its financial footing.
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I think it's become clear that Quinn has turned into the typical worthless piece of shit politician that Illinois produces in such great numbers.
Basically, this deal, if true, would have the CTA borrow to cover operating costs. Not good.
And instead of raising fares at least a bit--they are still a good bargain, especially for passes--and cutting free rides for affluent seniors, Quinn will do the populist act and crow about holding down fares even as service declines.
Yeah, Quinn can only do so much--Mike Madigan is the real governor of Illinois, and 20 years of bad, selfish and short-term decision making, combined with the recession, has finally led the state to nothing less than virtual bankruptcy--but that doesn't excuse Quinn's weakness or stupidity.
Fuck Pat Quinn.
cut. the. free. rides.
i mean, seriously.
yes. please. just because you're old doesn't mean you're poor.
They won't because our spineless leaders care more about their jobs--angry seniors tend to vote--than public service.
Yeah, I know calling a politician self-centered is like saying the Death Valley is hot, but still. The state is falling off a fucking cliff because no one in the past generation or so has had the stones to make difficult, unpopular decisions. This from the state that pretends to be proud and appreciative of Lincoln, who made many difficult unpopular decisions even though he feared losing the 1864 election (and might have had Sherman not done such a wonderful job putting the torch to the South).
And continuing to shift capital funds to operations while borrowing to do so and cutting service is hardly the victory that Quinn, et al will pretend it is. It's just another punt in a long series of punts in this state.
Didn't Quinn try to cut the free rides, but Hendon et al blocked the move?
Yes, and Quinn caved, and waffled.
I guess I don't see where you come to the conclusion that he just caved and waffled. Inductive Reasoning? Bullshit like this just seems indicative of typical representative governance; too many politicians have voting power without the responsibility to come up with solutions on their own.
Quinn gave conflicting signals over a relatively long course of time about whether he wanted to scrap the rides or not, and, in the end, he went along with the politically easy solution of doing nothing rather than putting his (relatively weak) back to an effort to cut free rides for seniors who could afford higher fares.
So, that is why I, among other reasons, I say fuck Pat Quinn.
"Bullshit like this just seems indicative of typical representative governance"
Then perhaps our republic is not what its cheerleaders make it out to be.
"Then perhaps our republic is not what its cheerleaders make it out to be."
I have come to the conclusion over the past several years that humanity just isn't advanced or intelligent enough to handle representative democracy coupled with advanced information technology. Whenever we act in mass, we act with the forward-thinking of a selfish and scared three-year-old, and increased access to information only makes it worse. Over the last generation, we have confirmed the fears of Revolution-era monarchists. As long as the decision making is up to the "informed public," we will not make the hard decisions we need to make to pay society's bills. We will simply keep putting it off until our economies collapse under the weight of it all, and a good portion of us starve to death.
I agree, and am generally of the opinion that most people deserve to be, and probably want to be, ruled.
That said, I'm with Churchill (allow me to paraphrase): Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the rest.
My decently deep study of dictatorships and totalitarian governments has proven to me that such forms of government generally are far less efficient than democracies, despite how one might assume otherwise.
And yeah, fuck Pat Quinn.
So much for "pragmatism" eh? ;)
Anyway it's all depressing, given Quinn's involvement with C.U.B. I had some hopes for him...
So did I, Navin. I knew he couldn't keep acting as an outsider-he is now, obviously, an insider--but christ, could at least pretend to give a shit?
The pragmatism question at this point is an interesting one for the state. I don't even know what to say on that anymore. I don't think anyone--Madigan, Quinn, et al--are being pragmatic to the state, only pragmatic to their own fucking careers even as Illinois is a quarter-step from bankruptcy.
It's hard sometimes to feel good about being a native of this state.
two things: i think it's possible to compromise on the seniors thing -- didn't they used to have a 'reduced fare?' couldn't we bring that back and then have free rides for people (seniors) who qualified financially -- like a food stamps or medicare thing?
also ... the hikes were NOT a good bargain on the passes insofar as raising from $75 to $86 one year makes sense. from $86 to $116 the very next year? not cool. that's nearly 30% and is a big chunk of change. i really like my monthly pass, even though i no longer make a daily commute downtown. it's freeing not to have to worry about transfers, etc. but, that's really out of control.
i wish this wasn't an ongoing concern for citizen and lawmaker alike.