WATCH: Illinois transit agencies face ‘trust cliff’ along with fiscal cliff

By Jim Talamonti | The Center Square
The Center Square

(The Center Square) – State lawmakers are questioning transit agency leaders over their revised fiscal cliff numbers and spending of operational dollars.

The Illinois House Executive Committee held a subject matter hearing Wednesday on the Regional Transit Authority’s fiscal cliff.

RTA officials presented updated three-year fiscal cliff projections for regional public transit, with the 2026 number down to $230 million from $770 million just a few months ago. The projected cliffs rise to $834 million in 2027 and $937 million in 2028.

State Rep. Brad Stephens, R-Rosemont, asked RTA Executive Director Leanne Redden if the numbers provided for any expansion of services.

“Unfortunately, this is the floor, certainly not the ceiling. This is baseline to maintain existing services that we have,” Redden said.

State Rep. Kam Buckner, D-Chicago, said there is a deficit of trust.

“I would pose it to you that the trust cliff is just as steep and just as abrupt as the fiscal one,” Buckner said.

Buckner questioned why the RTA spent $500,000 from its operating budget on the “Save Transit Now” campaign for more funding.

“The best PR campaign for RTA and any other service agencies is reliable transit. It’s not spending a half-million dollars to remind the General Assembly that you’re running out of money. Some people use the words ‘coerce’ or ‘cajole.’ I felt it was a bullying effort, and I don’t think it worked,” Buckner said.

State Rep. Eva-Dina Delgado, D-Chicago, referred to “clunkiness” in transit governance and said reform was critically important.

State Rep. Curtis Tarver, D-Chicago, referred to Metra specifically as “an absolute train wreck.”

Erin Aleman, executive director of the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, pushed for a $1.50 retail delivery tax to fund public transit. The tax was part of a larger funding package which failed to clear the Illinois House last spring.

Amalgamated Transit Union Local 241 president Keith Hill said four key things are missing in transit today.

“It’s not reliable. It’s not safe. It’s not clean, and it’s no connectivity,” Hill said.

Hill said the labor community would welcome reform and oversight.