Holding a walking cane in one hand and a piece of paper less than an inch from her face in the other, Mary Anne Sullivan on Tuesday begged CTA President Ron Huberman and the CTA board to spare the bus routes she uses as they make budget cuts for the new year.
“I would like to keep the 54A because I enjoy going to Old Orchard [mall],” said Sullivan, a 41-year-old Park Ridge resident who is visually impaired. To make it to work on time, “I have to be [at the bus stop] at 6:30 in the morning. If I have to depend on [the suburban bus system] PACE, I have to walk a mile and a half.”
With the first round of its threatened Doomsday budget cuts just days away, the CTA held the first of three public meetings about its recommended 2008 budget, which aims to trim a $158 million deficit.
Dozens of the nearly 150 city residents gathered inside the Lane Tech High School auditorium on Tuesday evening pleaded with, insulted and even supported the CTA administrators.
If Gov. Blagojevich and the state’s legislative leaders don’t end months of bickering by Sunday, the CTA has threatened to raise cash fares to $2.50 a ride, eliminate 39 bus routes and layoff more than 600 workers.
Without a deal by Jan. 1, the transit agency is prepared to again boost fares, slice services and trim additional workers Jan. 6.
That day, cash fares per ride would rise to $2.75, 43 additional bus routes would be cut, and about 1,800 more employees would face layoffs. The cash fare would top out at $3.25 on trains during peak travel periods, officials said.
Lynn Kardasz, who spoke for the Uptown United Special Service Area 39, believes the CTA would trigger a vicious cycle by upping fares and eliminating routes.
These actions will affect the economy of the city, she said. If business owners can’t afford to pay their employees, the employees can’t afford to ride the CTA.
“I hope you remember each one of our faces and what it does to our livelihood,” she added.
But it’s not only CTA customers whose routes are vanishing who would be affected, said Misel Ramirez, 27, of Lincoln Square. The routes that remain will be even more overcrowded, she noted.
As it is now, Ramirez has at least a 90- minute commute to work each day, she said. One bus after another passes her by because they are full.
“I just cannot imagine how it will be with the cut,” she said. “It’s not only my problem, it’s everyone’s problem.”
