In these lean times, taxpayers are likely to be skeptical of a no-bid public affairs contract for $45,000. If only RTA had some sort of community relations department to handle the fallout. more ›

The spat over alleged municipal tax scams developing between RTA, the City of Chicago and a pair of towns far down the I-55 corridor isn't just another Illinois embarrassment; it impacts your public transportation rides. more ›

Sometimes the fat government paycheck equipped with benefits and pension just isn’t enough for local lawmakers. So like any hardworking Joe they grab another job, a government one, that is also equipped with a fat paycheck, benefits and pension paid by taxpayers. more ›

On Sunday, the Illinois House voted 95-15 to limit the Seniors Ride Free program to only low income seniors and those with disabilities. Under the revised program, only seniors who qualify for the Illinois Circuit Breaker program may ride public transit gratis. Seniors who have free ride passes currently would be able to use them until their expiration. more ›

The suicide of former Metra chief Phil Pagano and the subsequent revelations regarding his finances could have something of a silver lining to them. The General Assembly, working with the Better Government Association, RTA and good-government lobbyists, passed legislation establishing an Inspector General for the transit authority that oversees CTA, PACE, and Metra. more ›

So how is Illinois going to get out of its $13 billion budget mess? One civic group says the solution lies in the state's transportation system. In a new report by Chicago Metropolis 2020, a "business-backed civic organization" that promotes "healthy regional growth," the group says that investing in transportation and changing transportation policies are the key to grow the Illinois economy and make the state prosperous again. The 78 page report (PDF) goes into great detail and makes many recommendations on improving the efficiency of the state's transportation system, including:
• Doubling of the state gasoline tax
• Expand the tollway system throughout the state and utilize variable pricing
• Remove townships from the "transportation business" and turn roads over to the counties

So about those free transit rides. While there's been some movement in getting those free rides reduced, it still didn't deter people from taking mass transit for free in droves. The RTA estimated the free rides would increase in 2010 over 2009's totals by about 1 million total rides. But through the first six months of the year, there have already been 2.5 million more free rides taken than all of last year for a total of 37.5 million rides so far in 2010. If the pace keeps up, that's roughly 75 million free rides for the year. According to the Tribune, the free rides are offered to, "senior citizens, disabled military veterans, low-income individuals covered by the state circuit-breaker program and active military personnel in uniform." Even at reduced fare, the rides taken by seniors, for instance, would have provided a healthy chunk of change for the transit agencies that are dealing with service cuts and repair issues. Thanks a lot, Blago. more ›

We knew the financial situation is pretty dire across many city agencies and now the RTA has come out and said that it needs about $24 billion in repairs to CTA, Metra and Pace across the next 10 years. From Mary Wisniewski at the Sun-Times: more ›

The four Chicago-area transit agencies - CTA, RTA, Metra, and Pace - spent a total of almost $1 million in taxpayer money for lobbying efforts in Springfield in the year between July 2, 2008 and June 30, 2009. According to the report, which comes from the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, here's how the spending broke down: CTA: $385,345; Metra: $264,504; RTA: $171,635; PACE: $132,000. The Tribune says that the CTA's bundle was, "the highest tab...among transit agencies and all 119 government bodies surveyed for lobbyist expenses." Reps for the agencies defended the amount, pointing out that they don't have "taxing authority" and rely primarily on public funds and fares. more ›

Just weeks after the last try was shot down, a new attempt to alter the law allowing free transportation rides for seniors is back in the state legislature. The bill, which passed the state Senate yesterday, would limit free rides to single seniors making less than $41,000 and couples making less than $55,000. With estimates of lost revenue from the current bill as high as $60 million, the new cuts would save the RTA $35 million, which we suppose is better than nothing. The bill previously voted down set a rather reasonable threshold for single seniors who make less than $27,610 a year or couples who make less than $34,635 a year. The bill would expire in two years, allowing the state legislature to evaluate results and decide if and how the law should be changed. We know plenty of people who make less than $41,000 who can afford CTA rides, but we're not state lawmakers. more ›

Like it or not, the Legacy of Blagojevich lives on in the state of Illinois in at least one way. A bill that would have limited the free RTA rides seniors now receive - one of Blago's last acts before getting the boot from Springfield - has fallen short in the state Senate. The Senate Executive Committee voted 7-6 against advancing the bill which would have set a threshold for seniors to receive free rides: single seniors who make less than $27,610 a year or couples who make less than $34,635 a year. more ›

Public transit funding that over-funds Metra and under-funds the CTA is racial discrimination, says a class-action law suit filed today with the U.S. District Court in Chicago. The suit, filed by plaintiffs Dorothy McGhee (who is African-American) and Manuel Munguia (who is Hispanic), is a class-action on behalf of all black and Hispanic CTA riders, reports the Tribune. The suit places the blame for the funding disparities as motivated by racial discrimination on the State of Illinois, the Illinois Department of Transportation, the Regional Transportation Authority and Metra. more ›

• A jury sentenced Andre Crawford to life in prison, sparing him the death penalty.
• Strange happenings in Austin where a Chicago-bound flight was delayed by a bomb threat that turned out to be a hoax.
• The RTA approved the CTA's 2010 budget, cuts and all, which totals close to $1.3 billion.

• Pvt. Francheska Velez, one of the two area soldiers killed in the Ft. Hood shooting rampage, was laid to rest today.
• The state's unemployment rate hit a new 26-year high in October at 11 percent.
• The RTA today gave the official thumbs up to the deal struck with Gov. Quinn that would avoid another CTA fare hike.

We mentioned yesterday morning the deal struck between the RTA and the state of Illinois which would provide enough funding to prevent a fare hike at the CTA for the next two years but wouldn't prevent the $90 million in service cuts originally proposed by the CTA. At a press conference yesterday, we got some of the details of the deal. Well, "deal" is a loose term as you'll see. The move isn't so much eliminating the CTA's debt as it is slightly reducing and really prolonging it. The Tribune breaks down the deal like so: more ›

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: more ›

With the CTA facing a budget gap in the hundreds of millions of dollars and another potential CTA fare hike looming, everyone involved is looking for ways to save some cash. The Regional Transportation Authority has now suggested tweaking the free rides for seniors program implemented by then-governor Rod Blagojevich. Instead of giving free rides to all seniors, the RTA has suggested providing free rides to low-income seniors who make below a suggested threshold of $22,000 a year. The RTA cited a study by the University of Illinois in Chicago which estimated the CTA lost between $38 million and $112 million from the new program. According to the RTA, setting the new limit would account for a boost of around $37 million for the CTA. more ›

With all the talk of fare hikes, doomsdays, and state funding shortfalls we've heard about our public transportation system since the beginning of the year, well, there's going to be even more talk over the next several days. Starting tomorrow and running until next Tuesday, September 1, the RTA will conduct 13 hearings to help them set next year's budget. WBBM 780 has more on the meetings as well as a break-down of the schedule. more ›

As expected, the Regional Transportation Authority board agreed this week to slash public funding for Chicago-area transit services by $67 million over the next six months. The nine board members in attendance voted unanimously for the cuts, in the hopes that they will bring the transit agencies' growing budget deficits in line with lower tax revenues. more ›

In a refrain which is growing tiresome yet still just as worrisome, it seems the CTA is once again threatening service cuts ahead of an RTA vote. The vote, happening Thursday, would cut $61 million worth of services to make up for a drop in sales-tax revenue. If approved, overall cuts would breakdown to $35 million for the CTA, $19 million for Metra, and $7 million for PACE. CTA President Richard Rodriguez has warned that cuts would result in about a five percent reduction in service for every $10 million lost. There's no indication which specific services the CTA would be cut, but officials have said whole bus routes could be lost in addition to overall reduction in service. PACE will look to reduce services on routes with low ridership, focusing on late nights, early mornings, and weekends. As for Metra, officials for that agency seemed to be downright sunny in comparison, saying the cuts wouldn't result in lost services as the agency did not fill some vacant job posts and have held tight on spending. [Tribune] more ›

Cell phones and the CTA. For now, this relationship serves only one purpose: to annoy the hell out of us when people of trains and buses decided to TALK WAY TOO LOUD on their cell phones in transit. Inside voices, folks, and chances are the conversation can wait 10 minutes. But now the RTA is looking into a relationship between the two that might actually prove useful. The Tribune is reporting that the RTA hopes to one day in the very near future - as opposed to the BladeRunner future - putting in a system that allows riders to swipe their fare by cell phone rather than fare card. While the RTA is already developing a new "smart card," they're looking into a recent trial that San Francisco's BART system tried. Joseph Moriarty, the RTA's principal analyst, said, "I think it's one of the most promising technologies out there. More people carry a cell phone than carry credit or debit cards." Check out the Trib's story for more info, including what the phones in SF needed in order to correctly operate. more ›

Eight legislators saw the best and worst of the city's transit on a tour led by the chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee to show the need for a multi-billion dollar program to upgrade and maintain the transit system on Friday. more ›

The suburban bus arm of the Regional Transportation Authority, Pace, is expected to announce Thursday a plan to add express buses along I-55, traveling from the southwest suburbs all the way to downtown. With plans to begin no later than early 2010, the buses will depart from Bolingbrook and utilize the left shoulder along I-55 to bypass traffic jams (note to self: if car stalls on the Stevenson, pull over to the ). The new bus service will essentially mimic the rail service that goes down the middle of the Kennedy and Eisenhower Expressways, but obviously at a fraction of the cost compared to a brand new rail line. The RTA is looking at adding similar service in the future along the Kennedy. Turns out the CTA was planning on speeding up the city buses as well by starting a test of bus-only lanes along four routes, but those plans were tabled after Chicago lost $153 million in federal transportation funds -- how Daley managed to let a big money grab through his fingers, we still don't know. [Trib] more ›

Some CTA news has come across the wire in the last few days. First, the truly surreal. It seems our fair transit system was honored with "Most Improved Metro" at the 2009 Metro Awards, and international awards ceremony held in London. The category aims to award the "metro who has gone the extra mile in improving their metro network in the past year." So, um, the Grand Red Line station doesn't count? The website goes on to say: more ›

It's not just cracks in CTA buses that have our public transit overlords worried today. Once again, even in the face of record ridership and fare increases, there's another big ol' pesky budget hole to fill. The Chicago Tribune has RTA Chief Jim Reilly and Executive Director Steve Schlickman looking at the RTA having a $58 Million hole, and the CTA with $87 million to make up. more ›

With a new transit doomsday prophecy, the area's transit systems are trying to figure out exactly how they'll manage to find the funding to stay running. At a CTA board meeting yesterday, chief financial officer Dennis Anosike revealed the alarming news that the CTA's budget deficit was at $87 million, much larger than had previously been thought. When added to the ginormous shortfall in tax revenue the RTA already outlined this week, the CTA now finds itself over $240 million in the red. Well, shit. And with everyone out of cash and looking for more, the infighting has begun as the CTA and RTA clashed over where the money would come from and who knew what when. more ›

We mentioned yesterday the newest round of Transit Doom and how the RTA doesn't intend to do much about it with state funds, but instead asking the individual agencies to maneuver their way through it on their own. And because of that, the CTA may have to look to cut jobs to save money. According to the Chi-Town Daily News, the CTA's board will consider an ordinance authorizing job cuts at their meeting tomorrow. It'd be part of an effort to meet the agency's $1.3 billion operating budget for 2009. more ›

In what has become a rite of passage for Chicagoans, like that first glorious spring thaw or the annual Cubs collapse, it's time again for another CTA Doomsday warning. This time, the culprit seems to be the economy and according to the Trib's Jon Hilkevitch, "The new numbers are so bleak that the "doomsday" service cuts and fare increases threatened more than a year ago appear mild in comparison to the sweeping measures that would be needed to fill gaping budget holes the Chicago Transit Authority, Metra and Pace are facing." Yikes. The CTA, Metra, and PACE are all facing huge tax revenue shortfalls which mean huge funding reductions for both 2008 and 2009. more ›

Governor Blagojevich is currently putting together a plan that, if passed, would force all transit agencies that hike fares in 2009 and 2010 to institute a salary freeze. Yes, the same Governor Blagojevich who played chicken with the CTA during last year's doomsday threats just so he could implement free rides for seniors, a program that is costing the CTA a nice bundle of money. Still, in Blago's defense, his plan only affects nonunion employees - union salaries are determined by collective bargaining agreements - and is mainly aimed at executives, many of whom actually saw a pay increase in 2008.

Salaries for dozens of transit executives continued to rise in 2008 after state bailout money started to flow, records show. The Chicago Sun-Times Watchdogs column reported Monday that the number of Pace executives who make more than $100,000 a year increased from 13 in 2006 to 20 this year. more ›

Metra and Google have partnered to bring us a trip planner that allows residents to plan trips involving Metra's commuter trains now, a great tool for those of us who aren't too familiar with what train to take to which suburb. While the planner incorporates CTA buses and trains, its drawback is the absence of Pace information. It offers the same info as the RTA's trip planner, but with the world going Google crazy, Metra is happy to get the plug at no cost. more ›