Chicago RTA 2016 budget to fund CTA, Metra improvements

Written by Jenifer Nunez, assistant editor
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Chicago's Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) Board of Directors adopted the 2016 operating budgets, which will fund Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) and Metra improvements next year.

 

“This has been a productive budget season, which began with reaching agreement on operating funding allocations for the Service Boards through a collaborative process almost a month ahead of the statutory deadline,” said Leanne Redden, RTA executive director. “In addition, for the second consecutive year, this budget allocates a share of non-statutory funding to all three Service Boards; this had been previously limited to CTA and Pace. Finally, the RTA once again increased funds for the Service Boards by directly programming state authorized Innovation, Coordination and Enhancement (ICE) funds through the budget process.”

Redden added that these budgets were created and approved with the assumption that state transit funding will remain stable in 2016. The 2016 RTA budget includes a 5.3 percent decrease in the agency administrative budget, due mostly to lower expenditures for the Travel Information Call Center as more riders utilize online services for travel planning. This contributes to an overall agency budget decrease that allows the RTA to allocate more funding to the Service Boards to benefit riders.

“The recent passage of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation or the FAST Act is a bright spot in the long term capital budget process. We believe this five-year package, which includes $61 billion for public transportation, will benefit CTA and Metra, as it gives agencies some funding certainty as they move forward with their capital plans. It’s estimated that these increased levels of funding could translate to more than $250 million in additional formula funding over a five year period for our region,” said Redden.

The $2.9-billion operating budget approved by the RTA will authorize operations expenses of the following amounts: CTA, $1.47 billion; Metra, $759.8 million and the RTA $35.2 million. The RTA Board also adopted a five-year capital program, covering 2016 to 2020, in the amount of $3.9 billion. This includes an estimated $872 million in capital expenditures for 2016.

These 2016 budgets will be used towards the following projects:

• CTA’s Red and Purple Modernization program that enhances station access along the corridor, expands platforms and replaces and modernizes the 90-year-old structural system.
• Metra mobile ticketing application support activities and a pilot program to test innovative platform heating technology.
• Metra’s fleet modernization plan, which includes the replacement and rehabilitation of rail cars and locomotives.
• RTA leveraging federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program funds through the Access to Transit Program that helps municipalities implement local pedestrian infrastructure improvements that make the public transit system more accessible and easier to ride and working with other transportation partners on Union Station redevelopment.
• RTA work with other transportation partners to fund design of improvements to Chicago Union Station that improve passenger capacity, service, safety, accessibility and mobility issues.

 

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