This quarter’s issue comes at a critical time for public transportation in the Chicago area. At publication time, we don’t know whether and how Springfield will address the fiscal cliff facing Metra, CTA, and Pace due to the exhaustion of federal COVID-relief funding. Lawmakers faced an end-of-session deadline to solve the problem or force the three agencies to begin planning for huge shortfalls in their 2026 budgets. At this time, all we can tell you is that we will remain engaged as long as it takes to make sure you can continue to rely on Metra.
We want to be there for riders like the young man on our cover, Caleb, who captured our hearts with his infectious enthusiasm (see story here) for Metra and trains. And we want to be there for all of you, too.
There is more certainty about other issues. This spring, we completed the transfer of operations on the three Union Pacific lines from that freight railroad to Metra (although we still are negotiating how much we’ll pay to use UP’s tracks). That story is here. And we know the Access pilot, which is providing reduced fare rides to low-income area residents, will continue for another six months. That story is here.
In April, Metra invited transit, law enforcement, social service providers, and educators to a collaborative education conference in April to discuss strategies for identifying and preventing human trafficking, as well as ways to support victims and survivors. We feel it’s important to do everything we can about this problem. Read more here.
We want to be part of the Chicago area community, which is one reason why we’ve created a parade float and are participating in the area’s major parades. See that story here. Our regular Go Guide is here, and our Dine by Your Line feature is here.
We’re looking forward to a summer of fun, and we hope you are too.
