As many members of the Northwestern community undoubtedly know, the Chicago Transit Authority is facing a crisis. Transit service is slow, late or nonexistent — a funding gap of epic proportions is expected in this year’s budget and ridership is still nowhere near their levels prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
To address this crisis, lawmakers in Springfield have proposed combining Chicagoland’s four transit agencies: the Regional Transportation Authority, which oversees the other three transit agencies; Pace, the suburban bus service; Metra, the commuter rail service; and the CTA, Chicago’s primary urban bus and rail operator. This new entity would be known as the Metropolitan Mobility Authority.
Together, these agencies provide service to millions of commuters in the region, boost local and regional economies and oversee billions in public transit infrastructure. This consolidation effort cannot be seen as a silver bullet to solving the CTA’s current crisis, and there are flaws in the proposed legislation as it currently stands.
For one, the city of Chicago has woefully inadequate representation on the proposed board. Less than a third of the proposed board members would be appointed by officials exclusively elected by residents of the city. This is despite the fact that the CTA accounts for 84% of the region’s public transportation ridership.
A better alternative may be the proposal recently announced by the RTA that would strengthen its oversight over the CTA, Metra and Pace. This would allow the service boards to focus on improving existing operations and the RTA to facilitate better regional transit planning, all while avoiding any lengthy consolidation processes that would likely delay service improvements until a full transition has been completed. There is no question that reform is needed before any new taxes are imposed, but this reform must be undertaken in an effective and competent manner.
Additionally, despite its overwhelming share of the region’s transit ridership, the CTA currently only receives 46% of the public funds — sales tax, state matching funds, etc. — allocated to the region’s transit agencies. The solution to the impending fiscal cliff must include funding transit in an equitable and adequate manner; consolidation will not solve these structural problems.
There are several possible revenue streams that could be tapped to address these issues. Under the current RTA Act, the RTA board is permitted to impose either a sales tax or a motor fuel tax, but not both. As part of these reforms, state lawmakers should explore allowing the RTA to impose these taxes in tandem.
Additionally, the state should extend the sales tax that is currently only imposed on goods to include services. This kind of reform would not only help fund transit but also alleviate inequities in the current sales tax structure (lower-income people tend to disproportionately purchase goods) and help provide revenue to the city of Chicago, which has a structural deficit of more than $1 billion.
Another possible source of revenue for local transit agencies is through what is known as “flexing” highway funds allocated by the Federal Highway Administration to the Federal Transit Administration. The state of Illinois could do this, following in the footsteps of other states like Pennsylvania, and redirect funds towards transit agencies across the state, including the RTA. This would also be less politically difficult for lawmakers than raising taxes at a time when inflation has greatly impacted working families.
Boosting revenue and improving safety on the CTA have complimentary benefits. Riders report feeling safer when riding with other passengers, and more passengers means more revenue for the system, which can go back into investing in safety improvements. The current status quo of hiring private security — to which many can attest does almost nothing to improve safety — is not a sustainable solution to improving ridership. Instead, the CTA should establish better ways for riders to report disruptions and criminal activity combined with a more proactive approach to security concerns.
Ultimately, it will take a combination of reforms and revenue-raising measures to adequately address the current crisis at the CTA. If no action is taken, Chicagoland transit agencies would have to dramatically increase fares and cut service, which would almost certainly lead to a transit death spiral. Almost nobody who regularly uses public transit is happy with the status quo, but the way we make improvements matters a great deal.
Aidan Keefe is a Weinberg sophomore and member of the CTA Citizen Advisory Board. He can be contacted at [email protected]. If you would like to respond publicly to this op-ed, send a Letter to the Editor to [email protected]. The views expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect the views of all staff members of The Daily Northwestern.
