Every weekday morning, Evanston Township High School freshman Vivian Hackney rides the Purple Line to the Davis Street bus station. From there, she boards Chicago Transit Authority’s bus Route #93, along with many of her classmates — all of whom rely on the CTA to get to ETHS.

Unlike most high schools, ETHS doesn’t provide school bus transportation. Instead, it relies on Evanston’s public transportation infrastructure to get students to and from school.

Now, a looming $230 million budget shortfall threatens to disrupt that system. 

The Regional Transportation Authority — which oversees the CTA, Metra and Pace Suburban Bus services — is facing financial challenges that may jeopardize the future operation of public transit in the Chicago area.

ETHS Safety Officer Phillip A. White estimated that just under half of the student body relies on public transportation to get to school every day. 

“A good amount of our students reside on the south end of town, and I know the main means of transportation is the (CTA) bus,” White said.

Pace has already taken measures to cut its spending by limiting the number of monthly trips for Paratransit RAP and TAP programs, which are designed to help people with disabilities get subsidized rides through Uber, UZURV and Chicago taxis. On Oct. 1, RAP prices increased from $2 to $3.25, and the number of subsidized trips decreased from eight per day to 30 per month. 

Lawmakers in Springfield have and will continue to discuss transit funding at their fall veto sessions, taking place Oct. 14-16 and Oct. 28-30. If the RTA doesn’t receive more government funding, it will be forced to reduce or eliminate much of its service.

Late evening and weekend services could be eliminated as early as summer 2026, according to a timeline presented at the CTA’s ad hoc committee meeting on Oct. 3. 

Pace Chief Communications Officer Maggie Daly Skogsbakken said she’s unsure of what the future of Chicago’s public transportation looks like, but she’s hopeful that service during key travel times will not be impacted, even if lawmakers choose not to provide more funding. 

“The reality is evenings and weekends are going to be the bad situations,” Daly Skogsbakken said. “I do believe we’ll be able to preserve most of our daytime service.”

According to some students, the bus service is far from perfect before funding cuts.

“In the mornings, (the bus) is pretty consistent,” ETHS freshman Kaylynn Gregory said. “But in the afternoons, we have an ongoing joke that the only thing reliable about our bus is that it’s always late.”

Even cutting just evening and weekend services would be inconvenient, some high school students say.

“I take the Purple Line a lot on the weekends to get to downtown Evanston, so that would probably affect safety and costs,” Hackney said. 

For now, students like Hackney and Gregory will continue their daily commutes while lawmakers discuss the future of their public transportation lifeline.

The RTA and its agencies will be able to give more concrete details on what the future of its service will look like within the next few weeks, Daly Skogsbakken said.

“We understand that students need this transportation to get to school,” Daly Skogsbakken said. “Our goal is to preserve as much of the core service as possible. We are hopeful that our representatives are going to find a solution.”

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Email: [email protected]

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