Public transit experts and advocates in Evanston and beyond have expressed skepticism over recently proposed funding packages intended to keep regional transit afloat.
Chicago-area transit operators have warned of a 40% service cut in the face of a daunting fiscal cliff next year, as federal funding from the pandemic is set to dry up.
Four transit agencies would be affected: the Chicago Transit Authority, suburban bus operator Pace, Metra and the Regional Transportation Authority, which oversees the other agencies.
State lawmakers in Springfield have proposed consolidating these four organizations into a singular Metropolitan Mobility Authority. As an alternative, the RTA, led by Chairman Kirk Dillard, proposed a plan Jan. 15 that would strengthen its oversight over the other three agencies.
Weinberg Instruction Prof. Ian Savage, who specializes in urban transportation, said it’s important to regard the current financial crisis as the latest in a string of similar crises — in Chicago and in other areas.
“Transit crises have been a feature of Chicago for 100 years,” he said.
Savage said the current downturn began in the 2010s, when Chicago’s repopulation slowed and rideshare services rose in popularity.
The pandemic had a mixed effect: Ridership plummeted, but an influx of federal funding alleviated some of the strain placed on Chicago’s transit system. Now, the “problems of 2013” are coming to light, Savage said. He favors the alternative solution proposed by the RTA.
“I don’t think there’s going to be great efficiency in this mega-organization running the vehicles,” Savage said. “In fact, if anything, I think things will get worse.”
Savage highlighted that Transport for London, the government body responsible for most of the transport network there, currently operates like an expanded RTA would. He pointed to London as the epitome of transit excellence and said he would like to see a similar system incorporated in the Chicago area.
However, Savage said he is still somewhat skeptical because the RTA could take more control over the budget-setting of the CTA but chooses not to.
On the other hand, Michael Kroll, lead of Go Evanston, the transportation subgroup of Climate Action Evanston, said he would prefer to see one consolidated transportation group to streamline operations and improve communication across the system.
Kroll explained that having a single representative for the entire transportation network would make it easier for communities like Evanston to express their concerns and advocate for local needs.
“I believe a combined regional network is what’s needed,” Kroll said.
Regardless of the solution, Savage said any reform of this proportion would take time to enact and is entirely unpredictable. In the meantime, state intervention could provide temporary funding, as was the case in Philadelphia, where the state stepped in to support its transit agency facing a similar crisis last year, Kroll said.
Evanston Transit Alliance member Rebecca Perelman points to the effects of decreasing frequency as the most worrying potential outcome of a transit cut.
Perelman, a University of Illinois Chicago graduate student studying urban planning, said limiting the frequency at which transit systems operate can lead to a “death spiral” where fewer people use the service, resulting in lower fare revenue and further reductions.
“Even in the far-out suburbs, there’s people who are transit-dependent,” Perelman said. “So public transportation is a vital lifeline for many people.”
Correction: A previous version of this article misquoted Rebecca Perelman. The Daily regrets the error.
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