When the General Assembly met in late October for its veto session, one of the most critical matters on its agenda was passing legislation to pull the Chicago region’s mass transit system back from the brink and modernize its operations.
Although the collective fiscal cliff the CTA, Metra and Pace were facing was downgraded in early October to about $200 million, from an initial eye-popping $771 million, the Regional Transportation Authority continued to warn of significant service cuts in 2026 without new state funding. CTA riders in particular would have felt the impact of reductions in, and in some cases elimination of, bus and train routes.
State lawmakers had to go back to the drawing board when a funding plan for transit considered during the spring session — which proposed a new $1.50 fee on retail deliveries, among other things — passed in the Senate but failed to get a House vote.
“No funding without reform” was a common refrain throughout the year during debate over transit funding. Tensions over who gets to control the system’s future — renewing a tug-of-war between the city and the suburbs — also dominated the conversation.
That conversation played out on our pages. Here is a look back at the transit crisis through our op-eds.
March 20: Sen. Seth Lewis, “Just trust Chicago? Not when it comes to public transit”
There was a time when Chicago understood its responsibility to the entire region. Decades ago, city leaders recognized that a thriving metropolis depended on a strong partnership with the suburbs. Public transit was designed to serve everyone, ensuring that suburban commuters — the workers who power the companies filling the Loop — can get to their jobs, that customers traveling in from the suburbs can spend their dollars at local businesses and that the entire region — city and suburbs alike —can thrive with the help of affordable, reliable transportation.
That cooperative spirit made Illinois a transportation powerhouse, driving regional growth, attracting businesses and keeping the economy competitive. Chicago’s success is directly tied to the strength of its suburban communities. A balanced, cooperative relationship benefits both — and that is particularly true for their public transit system.
Illinois’ public transit system is a shared resource, and its governance must reflect that reality. Chicago and the suburbs are economic partners, and both deserve an equal say in shaping its future. A system that sidelines suburban communities isn’t cooperation. It’s a power grab that threatens regional stability.
April 20: Rep. Kam Buckner, “The RTA is running ads while riders and legislators are running out of patience”
There’s a $750,000 campaign running across northeast Illinois right now — from TV to radio to billboards — asking the public to “Save Transit Now.” The Regional Transportation Authority says it’s meant to raise awareness about the $1.5 billion funding gap threatening our transit system’s future. But here’s the thing: We don’t need more awareness. We need leadership.
Let me be clear: The funding gap is real. As a legislator who has been working on this specific issue for two years, I know how critical this moment is. Chicago is a world-class city. Northeast Illinois is a global economic engine. And our transit system is the connective tissue that holds it all together. We’ve lagged behind other states for too long in both funding and foresight. The so-called fiscal cliff isn’t new; it’s the result of years of delayed decisions and deferred maintenance. This work should’ve started long before the pandemic. It didn’t. So here we are.
But to cry broke with one hand and drop three-quarters of a million dollars on a PR campaign with the other is wrong, and frankly, it’s irresponsible.
People don’t want more marketing. They want more buses that come when they’re supposed to. They want trains that feel safe, are clean and run on time.
May 9: Joe Ferguson, “How Chicago transit is governed requires reform before the state rescues it with cash”
As lawmakers negotiate on governance reform before the end of the spring session this month, we urge them not to waste this moment with incremental improvements that tinker at the margins. We need a new regional agency and a new brand to bring back riders. The final landing place must be consolidation of the three oversight boards into a single, new governing board with full power over decision-making and planning related to fares, schedules, administration, capital planning, investment, equipment and procurement.
It is also critical to fix the structural flaw that has crippled innovation under the current governance structure: Decisions must be approved by a supermajority of the RTA’s board. Since the board is evenly split among appointees from Chicago, Cook County and the collar counties, the veto power of any one group of appointees ends up effectively paralyzing it. As a result, the existing structure incentivizes the Metra, Pace and CTA boards to make decisions grounded in maintaining their individual fiefdoms — with no contemplation of their relation to the entire Chicago region.
May 22: Leslie S. Richards, “Philadelphia’s transit faces deep cuts. Chicago can still avoid this fate.”
Philadelphia and Chicago have much in common. Both operate legacy transit systems that serve millions of riders across dynamic and diverse regions. Both are navigating post-pandemic ridership trends and rising operating costs.
But here’s the key difference: Chicago still has time to act before damage is done.
The Regional Transportation Authority and transit advocates are calling for $1.5 billion in new annual operating funds — not just to prevent service cuts but to modernize and expand service across the CTA, Metra and Pace. The agency is also proposing governance reforms to improve coordination, efficiency and accountability across the system. These changes would bring Chicago more in line with thriving global transit systems and unlock better service for riders throughout the region — if Illinois lawmakers provide the tools and funding needed.
Philadelphia’s experience is a cautionary tale. One recent estimate suggests that home values near transit could fall by nearly $7 billion; that means a slashing of tax revenue that funds schools, parks and public safety. More cars on the road will mean more traffic, more pollution and more stress on working families.
Aug. 13: Karen Tamley, “Don’t let Chicago’s transit crisis erase decades of progress for people with disabilities”
The disability community has fought for decades to access public transportation across our nation. As a teenager, I was unable to ride the public bus in my hometown with my friends because every bus had stairs and lacked ramps. Accessing most rail systems anywhere in the country was virtually impossible due to a consistent lack of elevators to platforms.
Everything began to change in 1990 with the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, whose 35th anniversary we celebrated on July 26th. This milestone anniversary also coincided with the opening of four newly renovated CTA stations along the Red Line that are now accessible with elevators, making them available to people with mobility disabilities for the first time since the stations were constructed more than 100 years ago. This is such an important milestone, yet we still have more than 80 stations between Metra and CTA needing elevator access and even more stations needing other accessibility improvements.
Unless our state leaders act, the progress we’ve achieved and the work to be done toward greater transit accessibility and better service on the CTA, Metra and PACE will stall. The transit systems that give independence to hundreds of thousands of people living with disabilities will be severely diminished. Some may be cut off from the system entirely.
Sept. 29: Denise Barreto, “Where are the Black voices in the transit debate?”
Black people deliver the most transit services in the Chicago area. They make up 73% of the employee base of the CTA, the largest of three transit service boards.
So, while Black people disproportionately deliver the services we all benefit from, their voices and contributions are almost invisible in the transit discourse. Look no further than the recent opening celebrations of the Red and Purple Line Modernization (RPM) rail stations on the North Side when dignitaries across all levels of government were profusely thanked with one notable exception.
Barack Obama, the 44th president.
The first phase of the RPM project that opened four new accessible rail stations would not have been possible without an eleventh-hour grant agreement signed by President Obama’s Federal Transit Administration in January 2017. Yet during the celebrations, not one official thanked him or his administration by name.
The omission of Obama as a key figure making that project possible is indicative of the ways in which Black voices are overlooked at best or downright silenced at worst in the ongoing transit discussions in our state and nationally. Two patterns locally that stand out to me are the weaponization of the lack of transit usage against Black elected or appointed officials and the overindexing of the feelings of white transit users and suburban politicians versus the data and facts.
Oct. 28: Kirk W. Dillard, “The real consequences of not funding transit in Illinois”
Three years ago, the Regional Transportation Authority warned that Chicago’s regional transit system was heading toward a fiscal cliff. Since then, every other major state with a large urban transit system has stepped up to fund their systems, which are all facing similar crises — except Illinois.
The problem isn’t one of mismanagement. It’s chronic underfunding. Illinois ranks last among peer states in state support for public transit, covering just 17% of costs while most states fund 40% to 50%. Since 2014, Springfield has cut more than $400 million in transit resources even as the state budget has ballooned by $20 billion.
The consequences are real. The state reimburses just 4% of the RTA’s $250 million annual cost for Americans with Disabilities Act paratransit service and less than 20% of the $100 million for free and reduced fares for seniors and people with disabilities. Those unfunded mandates make up a large portion of the fiscal gap facing our region’s transit system.
Transit isn’t a Chicago issue — it’s an Illinois issue. The RTA’s six-county region drives 74% of the state’s economic activity, supports 175,000 jobs and generates $1.66 billion in annual state tax revenue. Every $1 invested in transit returns $4 to the Illinois economy. Without Metra alone, the state would need to add 26 expressway lanes to handle the same commuter load — something no one wants to pay for or sit in.
Nov. 12: Lester L. Barclay, “Transit funding was secured, but the CTA paid a price”
This is a victory for riders, workers and businesses across Chicago and the region. The backbone of our city’s transit is secure, at least for now.
But as we celebrate this moment, we must be honest with the people of Chicago: This funding victory comes with a price for the city of Chicago and the CTA. And it’s fair to ask: What did we give up in exchange for this historic investment?
Alongside new funding, the bill introduces sweeping regional governance reform meant to improve coordination and accountability among agencies. The bill establishes the Northern Illinois Transit Authority, a 20-member board that will oversee the CTA, Metra and Pace.
Chicago’s mayor will appoint only five members. The rest will come from the governor, Cook County and the collar counties. Under this new structure, practically all policies and operational decisions that previously received final approval from the CTA will now be subject to the final authorization by the NITA board — an arrangement that, while designed to promote coordination, risks diluting the local accountability and autonomy that have been essential to delivering responsive, community-centered service. The CTA — and by extension, Chicago — now faces limits on how we can acquire property, procure goods and services for our daily operations, lead construction projects and manage programs that have long driven economic growth. Those changes may seem technical, but they have real implications for how we serve our riders.
For one of the nation’s largest and most complex transit systems, this could challenge our ability to operate efficiently and responsively. This bill marks the end of Chicago’s autonomy over its own transit system.
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