Chicago Transit Authority service cuts appear more likely now that the Illinois General Assembly has refused to reexamine CTA funding.
The CTA had asked the General Assembly to look for a fix to the CTA’s $82.5 million budget shortfall for 2005 during its fall veto session, which ended Thursday. The legislature will not meet again until next year.
CTA officials said there is still a chance that the cuts, proposed to take effect Jan. 2, can be avoided.
“I think we’re going to use the next six weeks to work with the (Regional Transportation Authority) and try to craft a solution that minimizes the negative impact for our customers,” said Carole Brown, Chicago Transit Board chairwoman.
Brown and CTA President Frank Kruesi spoke Thursday at a press conference in a downtown Chicago subway station. But neither provided a clear plan for a solution.
RTA, the agency that allocates money to CTA, Metra trains and Pace buses, had suggested that CTA move money from its equipment funds to its operating budget to avoid service cuts. The CTA resisted the proposal, said RTA spokeswoman Meg Reile.
“It’s not a permanent fix,” Reile said. “What they’re looking for is a new permanent source of operations funding.”
The RTA also would oppose efforts to shift money from Metra and Pace to help fund CTA, Reile said.
“That’s robbing Peter to pay Paul,” Reile said. “Suburban leaders object to subsidizing city service.”
Another possible solution was to raise fares for trains and buses, but Brown said CTA is reluctant to do that since fares have increased 95 percent since 1983 and like service cuts, fare hikes would decrease ridership.
“We cannot continue to deal with these problems on the backs of our customers,” Brown said.
CTA’s funding has not kept up with inflation in the last 20 years, Kruesi said, and delaying service cuts could make matters worse.
“The reason I proposed these cuts for January 2005 rather than later is the longer you wait, the worse these cuts have to be,” Kruesi said. “You maximize savings by having the cuts early.”
The CTA approved two budgets for 2005, one of which assumed more funding from the General Assembly. The other, which CTA called a “gridlock budget,” called for massive cuts, including an end to late evening Purple Line and night Red Line service.
Although the General Assembly did not address the CTA’s budget crisis, its Special Committee on Mass Transit for Northeastern Illinois recommended Wednesday that CTA work out a solution within the next six months before deciding to cut service.
The CTA is required by law to have a balanced budget, so cuts cannot be delayed, CTA officials said.
“We are encouraged by the fact that leaders are talking about transportation,” Brown said. “However, we are dealing with the 2005 budget and we need to pass the budget.”
Aaron Goldberg, a member of Associated Student Government’s External Relations Committee, said he was disappointed by the General Assembly’s lack of action. Over the past week, his group has drafted letters to the CTA and the Evanston City Council, stating Northwestern students’ willingness to cooperate with the agencies in looking for ways to prevent service cuts.
“This is an issue that has received much attention from a wide cross-section of the Northwestern community,” Goldberg said.
The CTA board could vote to cut service on Dec. 8, Brown said, though she refused to acknowledge whether anything could be accomplished after that date to prevent cuts.
Both Brown and Kruesi admitted finding more money for trains and buses would be a hard task.
“Nobody wants to see service cuts, but this is a real challenge,” Kruesi said.
Reach Greg Hafkin at [email protected].
