Chicago public ridership is up, but so are losses

[September 09, 2008]  CHICAGO (AP) -- The nation's second-largest transit system announced $40 million in belt-tightening measures, despite a more than 5 percent ridership surge in 2008 compared to last year.

The perennially cash-strapped Chicago Transit Authority said Monday the moves, which include eliminating 80 administrative jobs, reducing worker overtime and deferring non-critical spending, are necessary to counteract soaring energy and other costs.

The authority, which operates more than 250 miles of subway, as well as a bus network, stopped short of threatening immediate fare increases. But that possibility remains "on the table" for 2009, CTA president Ron Huberman said.

"It has been our goal to avoid budget actions that would impact the riding public, and that is why we continue to look internally for ways to tighten our belt," he said.

While high gas prices have prompted commuters to take subways and buses more often -- Chicago Transit Authority ridership was up nearly 10 percent in August compared to the previous year -- fuel and other energy costs are expected to be around $37 million higher this year than last, straining the CTA's 2008 budget, the agency said.

The CTA also blamed its latest financial woes on Gov. Rod Blagojevich's veto of a reduced-fare subsidy in July, which the CTA says will cost it $32 million a year; it says a free-ride program for senior citizens will cost it at least $20 million this year.

Worsening matters overall, the CTA said, is that a weakening economy means tax proceeds earmarked for mass transit are coming in at lower-than-projected levels.

The CTA didn't offer a projected 2008 debt. But without cuts, it likely would run into the tens of millions of dollars.

Legislative action in January did not address infrastructure needs of Chicago's ailing, century-old networks, which transportation officials say will require billions of dollars in improvements over the coming decade.

A message seeking comment from the governor's office Monday was not immediately returned.

[Associated Press; By MICHAEL TARM]

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