With an imminent fiscal crisis erupting, Regional Transportation Authority leaders shifted millions of dollars from Metra and Pace to help forestall 40% CTA service reductions Thursday.
“There’s this death spiral whenever transit agencies cut back on service,” RTA Director Dennis Mondero of Chicago said. “Our region may never recover … so that’s why we’re trying to buy the time, so our leaders in Springfield may come up with a sensible solution.”
RTA directors also discussed fare increases and caps on a popular but over-budget rideshare program for passengers with disabilities — amid objections.
“This will force many in the disability community to make impossible choices,” rider Larry Dean said. “Do I go to work or see my doctor? Please, do not let a financial decision strip us of our autonomy.”
A $771 million shortfall dubbed the “fiscal cliff” is projected next year when COVID-19 funding dries up, although that number is fluid. Without a bailout, the RTA warns 40% systemwide reductions will occur; the CTA would be the first agency to run out of cash, followed by Metra and Pace.
About $73 million including discretionary sales tax revenues and Innovation, Coordination and Enhancement grants will be transferred from Metra and Pace to the CTA, which will last into the second quarter.
Director Brian Sager, who represents McHenry County, worried about the “vagueness” of the recommendation and lack of guarantees it would only be a one-time diversion.
“What will Metra and Pace be sacrificing?” he asked.
All agencies will see their RTA funding increase in 2026, staff said, although the CTA will get the lion’s share.
“This is a clear indication we’re getting closer to the cliff. We’ve got a lot of choices that are bad — and worse,” Director Tom Kotarac of Chicago said.
Sager argued the fiscal cliff “is here today and by taking this action we are continuing to postpone … that agony. Why isn’t it better to force our legislators right now to see the reality of where we are today with CTA?”
The transit system is intertwined and major cuts to one agency impact the whole, RTA Chairman Kirk Dillard of Hinsdale noted.
“If you have a Pace bus show up at a Metra station and there’s no Metra train, that’s a problem,” he said. “We’re one region — all three service boards (need) to be working as one system, more today than ever.”
The RTA board unanimously approved 2026 funding levels for the agencies including the redistribution.
It also voted to amend Pace paratransit funding with the assumption that rides on the Taxi Access and Rideshare Access programs will be capped at 30 a month per passenger and fares will increase to $3.25 in October.
Currently, passengers with disabilities can take up to eight rides a day on TAP and RAP. Numerous riders told the board the new limit would be “devastating,” and that traditional paratransit can take hours.
“It’s not a luxury, it’s a lifeline that connects us to the world. It is the key that unlocks our ability to work, to attend medical appointments, to pursue our education, to visit our friends and family,” Dean said.
Schaumburg resident Micki Coppel has two sons with intellectual disabilities who rely on RAP to work at local grocery stores and attend special recreation and Special Olympics activities.
“People with disabilities, unfortunately, are the ones with the least options when programs are eliminated,” she said.
TAP was created more than 20 years ago and covers Chicago; RAP, which uses Uber and UZURV, kicked off in 2024 regionwide and became hugely popular.
The two represent “one of the most flexible and subsidized programs” in the U.S., Dillard said. He added, “the state of Illinois drastically underfunds mandated ADA paratransit services,” and urged riders to contact legislators with their concerns.
The programs let certified ADA/paratransit passengers pay the first $2 of any trip. Pace covers the remainder up to $30, with riders paying costs exceeding $30, plus tips and surcharges.
The higher fares and 30-ride limit would generate about $8 million but that still leaves a $45 million paratransit budget deficit.
The RTA intends to plug the hole with reserves and sales tax revenues but also will divert about $17 million in Innovation, Coordination and Enhancement grants notably from the CTA and Metra.
RTA leaders also asked staff to work with Pace to see if exceptions to the caps could be allowed in the case of riders going to work, for example.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
