January 29, 2025
Better Data, Better Decisions for Chicago’s Transit Future
ELPC testified before Chicagoland’s Regional Transportation Authority in support of more analysis to understand the transit opportunities and challenges ahead
Transit in Chicagoland is heading toward a fiscal cliff. Unless something is done, devastating service cuts will contribute to a downward spiral of public transit, endless gridlock, and worse air pollution. Alternatively, bold action can lead to a renaissance for public transit in Chicagoland with a sustainable transit system, flourishing economy, and connected communities.
But we cannot chart this path blindly, we need data and expert analysis to understand the choices ahead, for lawmakers, transit planners, and the public as well.
On January 16, 2025, ELPC’s Deputy Director Kevin Brubaker testified to the Regional Transportation Authority in support of its Resolution 7A: Directing Next Steps to Address the Fiscal Cliff. The resolution would direct the service boards (CTA, Metra, and Pace) to analyze what service cuts could look like and, alternatively, what additional new funding could do to improve transit service across the region.
Read Kevin’s full testimony here
When federal COVID relief funds run out, the service boards are facing “an annual projected revenue gap of 20%.” The RTA has anticipated that could translate to a 40% cut in transit service, but we have no idea what that might look like on the ground.
- How long will suburban residents have to wait for their Pace bus?
- Will Metra only run trains every two or three hours?
- Will CTA have to eliminate whole bus routes, thereby cutting off entire neighborhoods from service?
- We be able to afford to run trains on the Red Line extension?
Without some sense of the daily impacts, it’s hard for people to wrap their heads around what this all means. Simply put, we can’t manage what we don’t measure.
Conversely, what could the alternatives look like? If lawmakers can develop $1.5 billion in new funding to transform the system, as advocates and experts agree is needed, what is the vision for improving service? Which buses and trains will improve and how? Yesterday’s RTA document provides the beginnings, but we need more detail.
The stakes are high. Transportation is now literally driving the climate crisis, and we must act to reduce its impact. Northern Illinois cannot meet its climate goals without a robust public transit system. And we need clear data to get us there.
As RTA Chairman Kirk Dillard noted in response to Kevin’s testimony, “If you care about the environment, the single most important immediate step you can make is to take public transportation.”