We commend your May 3 editorial “CTA needs a new road map” for emphasizing that the CTA is “an indispensable part of the city’s economy and vitality.” If our transit system continues to be downsized, all citizens of Chicago will suffer (whether regular riders or not) with increased commute times, lower air quality and more isolated communities.
Let’s be careful, however, of leaping on the bandwagon of “privatization” to solve our CTA woes. At its basic level, privatization introduces a new cost for transit: private profits. No one can pretend that a “successful” privatized system would not result in significant revenues diverted to stock-holders. Our experience with managed care shows what can happen when good service must compete with profits.
Sadly, the only way for privatization to work would be to reduce labor costs or service (the strategy employed now). Let’s not forget that our transit system used to be privately owned and was a miserable failure–except for investors, who made a tidy profit while they let the system crumble.
The “miracle of market forces” only assures one guaranteed result: that business will find a way to make a profit or stop doing business. Is that what we want in Chicago–wealthy investors siphoning revenue until they decide transit isn’t profitable anymore, leaving us with a devastated infrastructure?
We do need innovation and thinking outside the box. But there is no reason that cannot happen within a publicly owned transit system. Mayor Richard Daley didn’t have to privatize our schools to start meaningful reform; he just had to step up to the plate. Let’s hope he makes transit a priority before someone takes the public out of public transportation.
