The Chicago Transit Authority should spend whatever it takes to make its system secure, even if the money must come from funds earmarked for running trains and buses, the chairman of the Regional Transportation Authority said Tuesday.
”If we allow the perception of safety to continue to deteriorate, (the CTA`s) ridership is going to continue to decline,” said RTA chief Gayle Franzen. ”Safety directly impacts on ridership.”
A measure sponsored by Illinois Senate President Philip Rock (D., Oak Park) effectively would require the CTA to divert $17 million in operating funds next year to security improvements.
”If that bill is the answer, then we will support it wholeheartedly,”
Franzen said. ”I think Sen. Rock is absolutely on target.” But Franzen said that he does not yet know whether $17 million is an appropriate sum, or whether more or less should be devoted to security.
”We will support anything that is required to (improve) safety and security. . . ,” said CTA Chairman Clark Burrus. But, he added, ”the question is the source of funds.”
Even without heavy outlays from operating funds for security, the CTA has run into financial difficulties this year. A combination of higher-than-expected expenses and lower-than-expected revenues in the first quarter created a $4 million budget imbalance, prompting Burrus to order a round of belt-tightening at the transit authority.
The CTA is spending $5.5 million for various security measures this year, using special grants provided by the RTA.
If the General Assembly requires the CTA to tap its general operating fund for security improvements, Franzen vowed that the RTA ”will find money” somewhere to replenish the operating fund.
Franzen and Burrus spoke to reporters after an RTA board meeting.
On another subject, Franzen said he believes there still is a ”50-50 chance” that the legislature will pass a bill calling for a 6-cent-a-gallon gasoline tax increase and allocation of more than $1 billion for RTA capital improvement projects.
”I think all the early signals are that we are still alive,” Franzen said. ”I am optimistic as one could be right now.”
