There should be no question for the new regime at the CTA that the CTA and our whole approach to public transit needs to be overhauled.
Since 1980, miles driven by cars increased by nearly 50 percent and transit ridership in the city declined by one-third. We cannot afford to continue in that trend. The system has been cut to the point where it may not be adequate to serve the needs of the people and businesses in the city and suburbs.
This crisis is not the result of population and job shifts to the suburbs. Boston and Washington suffered similar shifts but have increased ridership on their systems. Illinois’ crisis was caused by short-sighted city and state policies, with financial support not keeping up with rising costs. Illinois now has a greater reliance on fare revenues than most other urban transit systems.
If that were not enough, the RTA authorization act requires that one-half of the revenue for the CTA must come from fares. This punitive requirement started the CTA on its downward spiral of less service, higher fares and disappearing riders.
The only way the CTA can reverse this death spiral is to focus on getting more riders onto the buses and trains, not slashing service or blaming labor. Shrinking the system is a recipe for failure since there will be fewer riders, more deficits and a less livable city.
