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State Rep. Eva-Dina Delgado, D-Chicago, introduced House Bill
3778. The amended Metropolitan Mobility Act would consolidate
four northeastern Illinois transit agencies, including the
Chicago Transit Authority, into one. The measure would also
create an Office of Equitable Transit-Oriented Development and
the Transit-Supportive Development Fund.
Delgado said transit is her No. 1 priority in the General
Assembly for 2025. She said her vision is that people will one
day choose transit over getting in a car.
“I’ve been talking about this probably for the past three years.
We knew that this challenge was going to be facing our system
here in Chicagoland. We want to approach this with as bold a
vision as we can so that we can provide the best transit service
for the people that live in and around northeastern Illinois,”
Delgado told The Center Square.
Chicago-area transit agencies are facing an estimated fiscal
cliff of $730 million in 2026.
Last year, the Civic Federation projected a total savings of
$200 million to $250 million per year for regional transit with
consolidation.
After hearing from people that the current transit service is
not ideal, Delgado said legislators want to reform transit
agencies so they will be more responsive to the people they
serve.
“Right now we have four agencies. We have 47 board members. That
seems like a whole lot of people who aren’t talking to each
other,” Delgado said.
When asked about cost, Delgado said infrastructure deserves
investment.
“I don’t know how often we talk about how much it takes to pave
a road or how much it costs to build a mile of new road or rehab
a mile of new road,” Delgado said.
Republican lawmakers have expressed concerns that consolidation
would give suburbanites the short end of the stick when it comes
to funding.
State Sen. Donald DeWitte, R-St. Charles, said last May that the
proposed integrated agency could have control over the entire
revenue stream and while the revenue model won’t really change
for suburbanites compared to people who live in Chicago, where
that money goes and how it’s appropriated could change.
"Frankly, that’s creating most of the heartburn that I am
hearing from my mayors and county chairman out in the suburbs
about what this reorganization is attempting to do,” said
DeWitte, who is a member of the Senate Transportation Committee.
At an Illinois Senate Transportation Committee hearing last
year, state Sen. Seth Lewis, R-Bartlett, said regionalizing mass
transit won’t work unless everyone at the table has an equal
say.
“I think when you have representing the suburbs, which has an
equal population combined compared to Cook County and Chicago, I
think it’s very important to, what you call tribalism, some may
call it consolidation of power and being taken advantage of in
the suburbs,” said Lewis.
Catrina Barker and Kevin Bessler contributed
to this story.
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