Chicago Transit Could Face Downsizing Due to Fiscal Cliff

The Regional Transport Authority — which oversees the Chicago Transit Authority, Metra regional rail and PACE — could face “debilitating” budget cuts if a funding solution isn’t reached by the end of the Illinois General Assembly’s spring session May 31, according to a March 21 RTA press release.

The RTA predicts if funding isn’t secured, one in five city workers could lose access to public transportation, over 3,000 public transit jobs could be eliminated, weekend bus service in the suburbs could end and early morning and late afternoon Metra service could be terminated.

The RTA would be required to cut an unprecedented $770 million dollars in spending, causing the RTA and the organization’s it financially oversees to “go off the fiscal cliff.” 

The CTA would need to suspend service fully or partially for four of its eight rail lines and close or drastically reduce service to over 50 of its 146 stations. The cuts would also require the CTA to cut an estimated 74 of its 127 bus routes — leaving 500,000 riders without a nearby bus stop, according to the RTA.

Hedge fund manager Jake Fraiser told The Phoenix he thinks the CTA needs to keep its funding so that traffic doesn’t increase and buses run quickly. 

“It would probably increase the number of drivers and make the buses take longer,” Frasier said while waiting for his westbound 66 bus. “Then you get more frustration causing more issues on the bus.”

Regular rider Jessica Hight said she uses the CTA to commute to work and to visit her mother in Riverside. Without the CTA, she said she would have to spend $50 to $60 per ride on an Uber. 

“I take it five days a week and maybe more if I have to go to doctors appointments and things like that,” Hight said while waiting for the 95th-bound Red Line train at Thorndale. “I feel like a lot of the funds they give to the police could be better translated into public transportation.”

The RTA projects the region will lose $2.6 billion in GDP annually and wages will drop by $1 billion if the cuts are implemented. Nearly 3,000 transit workers could be laid off and more jobs could be lost as the economic ripple effects hurt workers, consumers and businesses dependent on public transit.

“Public transit is an economic necessity,” RTA Board Chairman Kirk Dillard said. “If these cuts happen, Illinois’ entire economy will suffer.”

Aaron Green usually drives a car, but was waiting for a northbound Red Line train at Chicago/State because his car was getting repaired.

“They’re not taking any consideration of economic situations for citizens who don’t have access to affordable transportation,” Aaron Green said.

Gov. Pritzker made no provision for a mass transit bailout in his budget address in February, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Green said he thinks if cuts were to happen, they would disproportionately affect poorer areas in Chicago.

“I think a lot of the services that would be cut would affect a lot of the residents who live on the South Side as well as the West Side,” Green said.

The Metra’s current 91 trains each weekday could be cut in half if a solution isn’t reached. Cuts to the Metra could take five or more years to undo because it shares track with freight trains and there could be “limited flexibility to restore service,” according to the RTA.

The State of Illinois allocated $58 million in grant funding for electric public transit buses Feb. 7. This money was allocated by the state from the Volkswagen settlement, where Volkswagen entered a multi-million dollar settlement with the federal government for violation of the Clean Air Act. 

If the General Assembly doesn’t approve new funding, they’ll be required to hold public hearings throughout the fall before any decisions are made on fare increases or service cuts, which would take effect throughout 2026.