That will be $3.
The CTA says that’s the amount it will cost “L” riders to ride during peak travel hours starting Sept. 16 if new state transit funding is not approved soon, the transit agency announced Wednesday.
Although the CTA’s plan is a bit less harsh than what it originally announced in May, it still includes fare hikes for most riders on buses and trains and the elimination of 39 bus routes.
The unexpected easing of the service crunch came thanks to $20 million in newly discovered operational savings for this year, agency president Ron Huberman said.
Service overall would be cut by 8 percent.
Even with the revised plan, however, the CTA would lose 100,000 rides each day as a result of higher fares and reduced service. It also would have to lay off about 700 employees, mostly bus drivers.
Purple Line Express riders could face some uncertainties. CTA officials said although the service will continue, whether or not it runs would come down to a daily decision based on how well the Red Line operates on adjacent tracks along the North Side. In another service tweak, the Purple Line Express also would make stops at Sheridan to pick up and drop off riders who normally rely on the Red Line, the CTA’s busiest route.
But Huberman said service cuts and fare increases could be canceled on short notice if the funding picture brightens. CTA officials have been waiting for help from lawmakers in Springfield, where there has been little progress to report as the state budget stalemate enters its 69th day Thursday.
Huberman and CTA chairman Carole Brown hailed the $20 million in new internal belt-tightening as yet another sign to the General Assembly and the governor that the transit authority deserves new funding to erase a more than $100 million operating deficit.
Huberman previously had identified $18 million in administrative cuts. The CTA also will transfer $57 million from its capital improvement budget to prop up the operations shortfall, but that move will defer maintenance on buses and trains and likely lead to less reliable service.
“This is not about playing politics,” Huberman said. “We need a structural fix” to correct the state funding shortfall, he said.
But the strategy of rolling out piecemeal cost efficiencies could backfire, raising questions about the CTA’s credibility. Customers and suburban and Downstate legislators already are skeptical that funneling millions of additional dollars to the CTA would improve the transit authority’s often-criticized performance.
“The CTA has a long history of scaring riders with doomsday scenarios. They claimed the sky was falling, and now only half the sky is falling,” said Michael Pitula, a community organizer with the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization.
Still, riders on Wednesday bemoaned the tangled state of transit.
Stuart Cooper, who takes the Purple Line Express daily to his job downtown, said he blames both the CTA and state government for not working with each other or planning ahead. He said he expects Huberman to make some good changes.
Raising fares ” is just something they have to do [because of] the way they do things,” Cooper said of the CTA. “If they planned things better, they would not have to.”
Patrick Smith, who works at the Art Institute of Chicago, said he’s glad the CTA is saving the No. 148 Clarendon/Michigan Express bus.
“I think that’s excellent because it’s used,” said Smith, who lives in Lakeview. “It’s always packed. It’s better than the 145, which has way too many stops.”
Huberman acknowledged that the new budget contingency package, containing $7.5 million in service reductions and $7.5 million in fare hikes, still would create tremendous hardships, especially for the elderly, people in poor neighborhoods, students and commuters who do not have access to cars. But the goal is minimizing difficulties by scaling back the doomsday plan, he said.
“Buses will still be crowded and we realize some people will still be left on the curb,” Huberman said about the plan to operate 314 fewer buses during peak hours.
As an incentive for riders to save money while also helping to speed up boardings of trains and buses, the CTA plans to waive the $5 fee to purchase Chicago Cards. The offer would run through October if the contingency plan goes into effect, officials said.
Regardless of whether the revised cuts are implemented, the CTA is printing new bus and train schedules. That will cost the agency $2.1 million, Huberman said.
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39 routes in jeopardy
The CTA says the following bus routes would be canceled starting Sept. 16 if state funding does not come through:
X3 King Drive Express
X4 Cottage Grove Express
17 Westchester
19 United Center Express
X20 Washington/Madison
Express
X28 Stony Island Express
X49 Western Express
53AL South Pulaski
Limited
54A North Cicero/
Skokie Blvd.
X54 Cicero Express
X55 Garfield Express
55A 55th/Austin
55N 55th/Narragansett
56A North Milwaukee
62H Archer/Harlem
64 Foster/Canfield
69 Cumberland/East River
X80 Irving Park Express
85A North Central
86 Narragansett/
Ridgeland
90N North Harlem
93 California/Dodge
96 Lunt
120 Ogilvie/Wacker
Express
121 Union/Wacker Express
122 Illinois Center/
Ogilvie Express
123 Illinois Center/
Union Express
125 Water Tower Express
127 Madison/Roosevelt
Circulator
129 West Loop/South Loop
130 Grant Park Treasures
134 Stockton/LaSalle
Express
135 Clarendon/LaSalle
Express
143 Stockton/Michigan
Express
144 Marine/Michigan
Express
157 Streeterville
165 West 65th
200 Main Shuttle
205 Chicago/Golf
