Public transit plays an invaluable role in the lives of millions of riders across the Chicago region and has the potential to reach even more people — but the system has been drastically underfunded for decades. The pandemic exposed what we already knew:

our system relies too heavily on fare revenue, limiting our ability to focus on delivering reliable service to the people who need it the most.

 

State legislators took important steps this spring to make the transit system less reliant on fares, but there’s much more work to be done. More public funding is needed to support transit operations so that it can continue to serve as an engine for our region’s economic growth and ourstrongest tool in the fight against climate change.

Farebox recovery ratio relief is an important first step, but more must be done to save Chicago’s transit system from an oncoming fiscal cliff.

The General Assembly just took a critical step to support the transit system by extending relief from the 50 percent farebox recovery ratio requirement that has been in place for decades. The current waiver from the requirement was set to expire at the end of this year but will now stay in place through 2025.

Before farebox recovery ratio relief first passed in 2020, Chicago’s regional transit operators – CTA, Metra, and Pace – were required by state law to raise at least 50 percent of their revenue from fares. This requirement, by far the highest in the nation, forces agencies to focus primarily on increasing fare revenue, limiting their ability to experiment with new and different types of service that may not result in immediate ridership gains. It also prevents agencies from increasing attention on delivering equitable service to the people who need it the most.

While relief from the requirement is critical, this step alone does not address the Chicago region’s current funding crisis. Ultimately our region needs new funding for transit operations to close our projected $730 million funding gap starting in 2026, and to prevent major fare hikes and service cuts.

Ridership is rebounding but travel demand has changed

On the average weekday in 2023, people are taking over 1 million trips on the transit system – and ridership continues to increase. More than 80 percent of people who rode transit prior to the pandemic are riding again, they’re just riding less frequently. With the rise of remote and hybrid work, fewer people commute five days per week, leaving the system about 40% below pre-COVID levels.

CTA, Metra, and Pace are adjusting their schedules to meet this new demand and provide consistent, all-day service through the day and week and riders are responding -- demanding new and different types of service to meet their daily needs. Transit operators will continue to evolve to meet this demand – if funding is available.

Solutions are within our grasp

The Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) has spent the last year and a half working with hundreds of stakeholders to develop Transit is the Answer, a plan to improve the system and options to fund it sustainably.  We are growing a coalition from across the region and working with elected officials and civic leaders at every level to implement the plan’s 14-item Action and Advocacy agenda, because we know that funding must come with reform and improvements to the system so that it can work better for everyone.

Over the last month, I have been honored to serve as a co-chair of Mayor Johnson’s Transition Transportation Subcommittee and it has renewed my sense of what is possible. Committee members and the mayor’s transition team recognize the extraordinary value of the transit system and the need to increase funding. Mayor Johnson has the potential to be a strong champion for public transit and we already have strong allies in Springfield and Washington. But even with this support, the fight to provide the funding needed to achieve the transit system we know is possible will be difficult.

But the cost of failing to find new public funding for transit is too high to bear. Transit is the Chicago region’s greatest economic equalizer and powers our economic growth by providingaccess to 4.2 million jobs across six counties while delivering over $17 billion in regional benefits in 2022 alone. Transit is not just our most effective tool in the fight against climate change but also against the negative economic, health, and social consequences of congestion. In 2018, the system saved the region an estimated 3.7 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions, the equivalent of taking one of Illinois’ remaining coal-fired power plants offline. If Metra alone did not exist, we would have to build another 27 expressway lanes to transport people to and from work. Where would they go and how would we pay for them? What would the economic and environmental impact be on our communities? If we can find the political courage to fully fund our transit system, we will never have to find out.

If you have been engaged in our work to achieve the transit system we know is possible, we ask you to stay engaged, and if you have not, we ask you to pledge your support, get in touch, and join us in this effort.