There is a great deal of uncertainty since the Illinois Legislature adjourned its spring session without addressing the deficits facing Metra, the CTA and Pace next year. A bill that increased funding and reformed regional transit governance passed the Senate but not the House.
But here’s what we do know: The RTA told us to create two budgets for next year. The first should assume that no new
funding is coming to cover our projected $160 million deficit, which means we must cut expenses, which certainly includes service, and raise fares by that amount to balance our budget. The second should assume there will be at least enough funding to maintain the status quo—but also must include a fare increase.
As the RTA notes, fares have not been raised since before the pandemic, which was appropriate to help ridership recover, but an increase is important now to mitigate the projected shortfalls.
The deficit stems from the depletion of federal COVID-relief funds that have been supporting our budgets since the pandemic began. With ridership, and therefore fare revenue, still below pre-COVID levels, and relief funding running out, transit agencies in Chicago and across the country are facing deficits next year.
The hope is that lawmakers will return to Springfield before the end of the year and approve new funding, which would allow us to adopt the second budget. If that does not happen, we would have no choice but to enact the first.
