RTA: Lots Of Money Needed For Repairs

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Jun 21, 2010 8:40PM

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:

Of that $24 billion, $13 billion is for backlogged improvements, which means vehicles and structures that are already beyond their useful life, according to RTA spokeswoman Diane Palmer. Old equipment means operating expenses that could go into improving service is instead going into repairs.

Of course, Gov. Quinn signed a check he - and the state - can't cash. Literally. Around $2.7 billion was supposed to be headed the RTA's way thanks to a bill Quinn signed last year but there's one problem: the state doesn't have the money. Great. According to the RTA, the money is needed for small, pesky things like repairing rails and bridges.