Results tagged “servicecuts”

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:

Well, this perks us up on a Humpday. In spite of threats to the contrary throughout the first half of the year, the CTA announced today there will be no service cuts or fare hikes through the end of the year to help the agency close its budget gap. Good news for riders, indeed. Of course, there's still the issue of how exactly do they close that gap, the $190 million in funding cuts the CTA has undergone already this year, and what exactly will happen next year. But it is a bit of small relief to, for once, not have the Budget Doomsday card played. Um, right? [WBBM]

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]

• Stop us if you've heard this one before: so the CTA is threatening fare hikes and service cuts...
• The City Council today voted to ban baby bottles and sip cups using the chemical BPA.
• Gov. Quinn is standing by his budget and insisting there's no more room for cuts.

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: