CTA faces massive cuts as Illinois budget ignores looming $770M shortfall, leaving transit users concerned

CHICAGO (WGN) — Illinois lawmakers wrapped up the spring session without allocating any funding for the Chicago Transit Authority in their budget for next year, leaving no plan in place to address a looming large fiscal cliff.

That has some CTA riders concerned over possible transit cuts if lawmakers can’t come up with some type of solution soon.

Just before the midnight deadline late Saturday night, the Democratic-controlled state legislature approved a $55.2 billion budget for the next fiscal year, which includes millions of dollars in new taxes — but no money for the CTA.

“We moved closer to the cliff. There was not a favorable outcome in Springfield,” Joe Schwieterman, a transportation professor at DePaul University, said Sunday. “And we’re now left quite concerned that we could see these draconian cuts, and there’s no clear solution.

“It’s a scary time.”

Right now, the CTA faces a $770 million budgetary gap in 2026 due to the expiration of COVID-19 federal grant funding and a decline in ridership, but it’s still a vital mode of transportation for many.

If the shortfall isn’t addressed, the CTA, Metra and Pace could see services slashed by an estimated 40%, which could result in thousands of job cuts.

Legislation to reform Chicago-area transit agencies and avoid the looming fiscal cliff by hiking delivery fees statewide passed out of the Senate but stalled in the House, leaving the transit issue unresolved as state lawmakers concluded their spring session.

“It was a shock,” Schwieterman said. “The so-called ‘cuts’ are just months away.”

‘What’s next?’

Daniel Burke, a CTA rider at the Jefferson Park Blue Line stop Monday, said he teaches at a commuter school where all the students use public transit to get to and from.

“That’s hundreds of people that are going to be impacted very soon,” Burke said.

Marianne Wehrle, another CTA rider at the Jefferson Park Blue Line stop Monday, said she’s concerned about how she’ll get to work.

“At this point, I’m like, ‘What’s next? How’s it going to affect my rides every day?'” Wehrle said. “I rely on the CTA and the Metra every day. How long is it going to take me to get to work?”

“I’ll be commuting for school. I’m transferring to Chicago next year, so that makes me nervous,” Madeline Jackson, another CTA user, said. “Am I going to have a train to get to school? Am I going to have to get there early? Is it safe?”

Michelle Velasco also uses the transit system regularly and says any reduction of services would be devastating.

“I think it helps everyone that comes here,” she said. It’ll make it harder for people to get to work or to live.”

Will lawmakers act?

One bill proposed to help alleviate the pressure proposed a $1.50 tax on food and parcel deliveries. That was the one that passed the Senate but never made it to the House floor.

“We certainly thought there might be at least a stopgap solution to buy some time,” Schwieterman said. “It is discouraging to see this get kicked down the road.”

A spokesperson for the Regional Transportation Authority, a state government agency that oversees the CTA, Metra and Pace, told WGN in a statement, in part:

“We are grateful for the months of work of the General Assembly toward both funding and reform for the region’s transit system. It’s clear that many in both the House and Senate support transit, and our intention is to build on that shared support to identify the funding needed to avoid devastating cuts and disruption for everyone in Northeast Illinois.”

Lawmakers could still head back to Springfield in the summer for a special session to address the issue.

Schwieterman says avoiding a “doomsday scenario,” like the one the CTA is facing with its looming fiscal cliff, could pressure lawmakers in Springfield to come up with some solution.

“There will be enormous pressure in Springfield to find even a stopgap solution so we can explore how to keep the trains and buses fully running, or nearly fully running,” Schwieterman said. “It’s going to be a tough political sell, but I do think there’s a consensus that we can’t let the full range of these cuts happen.

“Springfield will be pressured to act.”