Oct 13, 2007 6:45 pm US/Central
Without State Help, CTA Riders Could Pay $3.25
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
Weeks after a reprieve from the mass transit "Doomsday" scenario, commuters continue to worry. Fare increases and service cuts are scheduled for Nov. 4, and the problem will only get worse Jan. 6 – when more bus routes will be eliminated and the cost of public transportation will top out at $3.25.
Chicagoland transit agencies, including the Chicago Transit Authority, are waiting for legislators to find $100 million for them to continue at current rates and operation. If that money cannot be found, the CTA plans to eliminate 39 bus routes next month and 43 more in the new year.
"We are simply out of options," CTA chief Ron Huberman said Friday. "This is grim. This is difficult. This will impact people in a very terrible way."
Huberman said the change will force 250,000 people to find a new way to get around each day – even those who utilize the Pace suburban bus system and Metra commuter rail.
The CTA outlined the proposed cuts in a more than $1 billion budget. Without action in Springfield, the CTA is set to lay off more than 600 employees and raise fares to as much as $3 in November. Come January, almost 1,800 more employees would lose their jobs and fares would top out at $3.25. The price increase would not affect reduced-fare riders such as students, the disabled and senior citizens.
CTA rail service will go untouched, as Huberman said "it's the most cost-effective way to move people around the city," but the cut in bus routes would mean 314 fewer buses during rush hour. Service may get slower and more crowded, but the main concern of many commuters is how they will get to and from work.
"I think Mr. Huberman pretty much is back in a corner and unfortunately it's the working men and women…that'll going to suffer," said Rick Harris of the Amalgamated Transit Union.
But they won't be alone.
"Given the fact that over 70 percent of the people who ride the CTA are not transit dependent, they have options to get into a car or a cab, what people should anticipate is traffic jams and gridlock throughout the region," Huberman said.
Transit funding solutions have stalled in Springfield because of disagreements over where to come up with the necessary money and whether to link it to statewide construction needs, such as new roads and bridges. Lawmakers have been considering a bill to subsidize mass transit by increasing the sales tax a quarter of a percent and imposing an added real estate transfer tax. But with legislators reluctant to raise taxes and skeptical of the CTA's efficiency, commuters at this point are caught in the middle.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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