The soaring cost of petroleum could force the Chicago Transit Authority to spend $10 million more than expected on diesel fuel for buses and maintenance vehicles this year, transit authorities said Thursday.
Fare revenues rose in June as more riders used CTA buses and trains–at least some of them commuters seeking relief from gasoline prices.
But it was not enough to cover a growing deficit as the price of fuel skyrocketed, the CTA reported.
“We obviously are dealing with the same kind of fuel price increases that everybody else is dealing with and that’s a very tough challenge,” said CTA President Frank Kruesi after a board meeting Thursday.
It’s too early to say whether fuel prices will hit transit commuters where it hurts, either with fare increases or diminished train and bus schedules, said CTA board Chairwoman Carole Brown.
“I’ll reserve judgment,” she said. “We’ll have to see how our other costs come in.”
Even as they struggle to make ends meet, however, officials said they remain committed to making the agency more nimble and user-friendly.
The CTA said early next year it will offer a free e-mail alert system that sends instant messages to cell phones or other wireless devices to advise commuters of delays.
Passengers have long complained of information blackouts when trains are delayed. Unintelligible messages delivered over the antiquated public-address system has only added to the frustration.
New technology can help fill the gap, however, as one transit user has proven with a private text-message service he created that allows users to inform one another about delays. Daniel O’Neil, an Internet consultant, launched www.ctatattler.com, which he said now serves about 400 people.
The CTA has not endorsed his service, but pledged to create a pilot program that officials hope will eventually serve a large portion of its riders.
On Thursday, board members approved an $89,000 contract with St. Paul, Minn.-based GovDocs, Inc. to develop and maintain an e-mail alert system.
CTA officials said they appreciate the work done by O’Neil, who testified before the board Thursday, but it will be more complicated to install similar technology system-wide.
The system by GovDocs will be operated as a pilot program for train riders first and should be rolled out system-wide early next year.
Steve Reardon, 36, exiting a Blue Line train at Clark and Lake on Thursday, said he is one of the people who is using mass transit more than he used to and said he would use the new technology.
“This type of thing is all over the place and it’s really simple to do,” he said. “I’m a little surprised that this is just happening now but better late than never.”
The cost of fuel may have led a few more people to use mass transit, but it was not the driving factor behind the 800,000 additional trips taken in June, compared with the same period last year, said CTA officials, who also credited service improvements.
For the first half of the year, ridership was up 3.2 percent to 226 million, according to the CTA.
Revenue generated during those six months from fares was $201.4 million, an increase of $5.1 million, primarily due to higher ridership, according to the CTA.
