CTA riders will pay more next year — though, in some cases, not quite as much as first proposed — under fare increases approved by the agency’s board on Thursday.
The CTA also said it would lay off 632 workers, almost 200 of them before the end of the year, as it tried to plug a $42 million gap in its $1.3 billion budget without cutting service.
Starting Jan. 1, fares will increase as much as 50 cents to $2.25 a ride. The board lowered the proposed increase on multiple-day passes from 20 percent to 15 percent, so the cost of a 30-day pass went from $75 to $86, rather than $90.
Transit board Chairman Carole Brown said that change was made possible by halting employee enrollment in a “supplemental” pension program for senior staff, a move that was expected to save $3.6 million.
CTA President Ron Huberman said that although ridership is up and fuel costs had dropped from the budget forecast, the transit agency still must grapple with rapidly declining revenues from sales and real estate transfer taxes, an aging bus fleet and other infrastructure, and the added costs of transporting seniors and other riders for free.
The lone person on the seven-member board to vote against the fare hikes was Sheila Nix, who was appointed in September by Gov. Blagojevich after leaving her job as his deputy governor, where she helped implement the seniors’ free-ride program.
Nix said she believed the budget gap could be plugged without resorting to a fare increase, which would hit customers already struggling through a slumping economy. After the meeting, Huberman called that view “irresponsible.”
“I think it would’ve been irresponsible to attempt to wish that the economy comes back or to wish our revenues ended up being more,” he said.
Another board member, Susan Leonis, said she was “begrudgingly” voting in favor of the increases, which come less than a year after the state legislature passed a sales-tax increase in the Chicago area to help the beleaguered agency.
“We knew that our customers are dealing with financial hardships,” she said, and the recurring requests for aid have “hurt our credibility.”
A handful of protesters with signs such as “The public can’t afford your public transit” beat plastic buckets outside CTA headquarters at 567 W. Lake St. before the meeting. A protester railed against the “fat cats” approving the fare increases and shouted that he was going to ride a bike instead of using public transit. He was escorted from the meeting.
Fares account for half the CTA’s operating revenue. Even with the increased prices, the agency is not promising it won’t need more help next year. Among other hopeful signs, the agency expects advertising revenue to increase next year, though on Thursday the board voted to ban advertising for video games rated M or higher.
The transit board was pleased that Blagojevich had vowed to reinstate $32 million a year in reduced-fare subsidies he’d vetoed from the budget, but the agency remains heavily dependent on politicians for support
“I’m hopeful we will not have to come back to our customers any time soon,” Huberman said after the meeting.
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EXPECTED GROWTH
The CTA estimates higher fares will reduce traffic by 17 million rides, but Brown said ridership is still expected to continue growing overall next year to 523 million.
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E-FEEDBACK Reaction from @redeyechicago followers on Twitter and chicagotribune.com message boards.
I don’t understand why the CTA didn’t raise the fares last January. So what if the governor approved a bailout? They’d have a whole year of increased revenue. — Katie S
It sucks. What is the incentive to have a Chicago Card now? Time to pay more for inadequate service … yippee. — tylertravitz
As long as the fare hike goes into infrastructure and not someone’s pocket, it will be worth it. but this is Chicago. — himm
The only alternative to this mass transit mess is to privatize the RTA. The taxpayers can only take so much more and the transit riders refuse to pay the REAL cost of their rides. — Homer Ballard
Does this mean the trains and buses will run on time or be clean, or have bus tracker work on all routes? (Rolls eyes.) — natebeal
Just wait until they need another $88 million to avoid “doomsday” cutbacks in service. I give it until April. — Kris
Thank you Governor … any more bright ideas? — Glacier
