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Regional Transportation Authority officials point to a combined
$771 million budget shortfall in annual spending. Authorities
warn if the fiscal cliff isn’t addressed, changes the system’s
more than one million daily riders could face are cuts that
limit now 24-hour daily bus and rail service to operating only
between the hours of 6 a.m. and 9 p.m.
With officials also warning cuts could eventually add up to
millions of lost hours for riders suddenly forced to rely on
less frequent service, state Rep. La Shawn Ford, D-Chicago, is
looking for a solution.
“We could not collect enough fares to have the most safe,
efficient transit system,” Ford told The Center Square. “The
answer has to be a combination of fares, public and private
support. I think what we are missing out of the whole equation
is bringing in the business community that needs public transit
as much as the individuals.”
With RTA officials seeking up to $1.5 billion in new state
funding, Ford said he sees little chance of that happening
without a complete overall aimed at making the system more
efficient.
“I think that the way we operate will change and we're going to
have to get it right because it's clearly a big change that’s
about to take place and we cannot afford to fumble this ball,”
he said. “This is not a quick fix. This is a fix for future
generations, the restructuring of how we’re going to have a
seamless system for all our transit deliveries.”
House Minority Leader Tony McCombie, R-Savanna, said legislators
already attempted to increase taxes on all Illinoisans to
address the fiscal cliff, but the measure didn’t advance out of
the Illinois House in May.
“I don't believe it's fair to put a tax on the entire state to
bail out Chicago,” McCombie told The Center Square.
McCombie said there needs to be an overhaul.
“We just can't continue to throw money at a problem and expect
it to be fixed. We've seen that time and time again, but that's
the way of the government. But it's not fair to taxpayers,” she
said.
Lawmakers are set to meet again in Springfield in October for
veto session.
Greg Bishop contributed to this report.
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