Chicago-area RTA: Expect fare hikes but no new services
Written by jrood
Chicago-area Regional Transportation Authority officials predicted that there will be no major expansion of the Chicago area's transit system for many years and that fare increases are likely as early as next year just to keep the existing system operating, the Chicago Tribune reports.
Even so, the CTA, Metra and
Pace will need to balance their budgets this year with about $150 million in
federal funds intended for maintaining equipment, said officials, who called it
a poor practice that jeopardizes safety and reliability.
"This is not doomsday,
but it is death by a thousand cuts," outgoing RTA Executive Director Steve
Schlickman warned.
The transit agencies can
forget about adding any new services, such as the CTA’s planned Red Line
extension to the south suburbs and Metra’s proposed improvements on the Union
Pacific West and Northwest lines, because all available money will be needed
just to keep equipment in good repair, he said.
"The system is
deteriorating at a rate of about $200 million to $300 million a year,"
Schlickman said. "I have no reason to believe, over the next five years at
least, we’ll have the means to expand the system significantly."
Schlickman, at his last
meeting after five years as RTA chief, said transportation officials were
skeptical about the state’s ability to come up with the $2.7 billion the
legislature approved last year for five years’ worth of highway, transportation
and infrastructure projects.
The state already owes the
RTA $300 million this year just to pay its bills.
A February agreement
between Gov. Pat Quinn and the CTA not to increase fares for two years is void
unless the state comes up with its promised share of funding, Schlickman said.
"We’re saying (the
deal) has not yet been consummated with an actual payment," Schlickman
said. "If the state continues to be in arrears, it’s going to be very difficult
to avoid what might be significant actions next year to maintain the system.
What those actions are, I’m not going to predict right now."
But Joseph Costello, the
RTA’s chief financial officer who was named Sept. 15 as interim executive
director, was more blunt.
Fare hikes, Costello said,
"make good business sense to keep revenues parallel with cost
trends."
