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Governor offers short-term bailout to CTA
By Deanna Bellandi
Associated Press Writer
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CHICAGO -- The Chicago Transit Authority could put off cutting service and raising fares under a short-term $24 million bailout offered Wednesday by Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

The plan would postpone the CTA’s “doomsday” -- ending 39 bus routes and raising fares by up to $1 -- from Sunday until Nov. 4.

The proposal to advance state money from next year’s subsidy still needs the OK from the CTA’s financial oversight agency, the Regional Transportation Authority, and that approval isn’t guaranteed. The RTA board is scheduled to meet Friday.

“They shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth,” Blagojevich said.

The offer isn’t the long-term money fix the CTA and other cash-strapped Chicago area mass transit agencies -- the Pace suburban bus system and Metra commuter rail -- want from lawmakers in Springfield. The House failed to pass a bill last week that would have propped up transit agency finances and the Senate is scheduled to take up the matter Monday.

Like the CTA, Pace has said it will raise fares and reduce service and the Metra rail will cut maintenance funds.

RTA chairman Jim Reilly said he appreciates the governor’s offer to stave off scheduled fare increases and service cuts at the CTA, Pace and regional paratransit service, but he said the quick fix “may create an even greater problem in the coming months” while averting an “immediate crisis.”

“Given the current political dynamic in Springfield, the RTA has to decide whether it is prudent to ‘hope’ legislative leaders and the Governor will act to place the regional transit system on sound, permanent footing,” Reilly said in a written statement.

The money Blagojevich offered would be an advance on an RTA fare subsidy, money the CTA uses to provide discounted rides to seniors, students and the disabled, said CTA president Ron Huberman.

Blagojevich’s plan would send a total of $37 million to the RTA this month with $31 million of it for the CTA -- $7 million they were already scheduled to be paid this year and $24 million more. The Democratic governor said he is committed to finding a long-term mass transit funding fix, although he opposes raising the sales tax to pay for it, calling that a “backdoor fare hike.”

Some lawmakers and transit officials backed a House bill that would have generated an aid package, partly through an increase in the regional sales tax. Blagojevich has said transit systems could get the money they need by ending some tax breaks for businesses or expanding casino gambling.

The CTA has recommended the RTA approve the quick fix so the CTA can use the money while lawmakers, hopefully, craft a long-term funding solution, said CTA chairwoman Carole Brown.

“While we appreciate the proposal because it helps our riders in the short-term, remember all we’re doing is borrowing from our next year’s budget,” Brown said.

Commuters were skeptical of the governor’s proposed fix, saying it was no substitute for a long-term solution.

“It’s just going to be a Band-Aid effort,” said Audrey Rice, a 58-year-old clerk who takes the bus from Chicago’s West Side to the west Loop to her job as a clerk.

Mary Felton of Chicago’s southeast side agreed.

“If he can bail them out temporarily, he can bail them out all the way,” Felton said. “That’s just a bunch of junk.”

Associated Press writers Karen Hawkins and Don Babwin contributed to this report.
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Reader comments on this story - 6 total

Note: All views and opinions expressed in reader comments are solely those of the individual submitting the comment, and not those of the Pantagraph or its staff.

Bail wrote on Sep 15, 2007 6:23 PM:

" Why don't they just raise the rates? Let the people that use them pay for the CTA and not the entire state...wait.. this is Blago's way of sticking it to Illinois. "

to JUST GREAT wrote on Sep 13, 2007 4:38 PM:

" Are you and Tractor driver cousins? You both have no clue on which part of the state pays more in taxes........hint: it ain't us. "

Free ride wrote on Sep 13, 2007 2:37 PM:

" The fares need to be raised irregardless of any action from lawmakers. "

JUST GREAT wrote on Sep 13, 2007 2:16 PM:

" GOOD JOB BLAGO THE CLOWN. MAKE SURE THAT THIS PASSES. KEEP YOUR BOSSES IN CHICAGO HAPPY. I FEEL GREAT TO BAIL OUT CHICAGO ALL OF THE TIME, AND TO SEE THE REST OF THE STATE GO DOWN THE TOILET. A GOOD JOB TO ALL OF THE WORTHLESS REPS AND SENS. I SEE THAT THEY TAKE CARE OF THEMSELVES FIRST THE PEOPLE WHOM ELECTED THEM SECOND "

To: Tractor driver wrote on Sep 13, 2007 10:44 AM:

" I hope you're being sarcastic. "

Tractor driver wrote on Sep 13, 2007 8:52 AM:

" How horrible! I can't stand it that my tax dollars are going to bail out the failed, corrupt city of Chicago. If it weren't for us downstaters, Chicago would crumble to the ground. If not for them, we wouldn't even need an income tax! "
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