By Michael Pitula , Kyle Schafer and Peter Zelchenko
Chicago residents have narrowly escaped another CTA “Doomsday,” but at what cost? We are thankful for the funding H.B. 656 provides but recognize that the transit crisis runs far deeper than the bill addresses. It is time to turn our attention to these issues and develop long-term solutions.
Transit riders want improved service. Yet the state bill only provides funding to maintain service. Recent cuts remain in effect, and the entire system remains in desperate disrepair. Streets will remain mired in traffic and pollution, affecting riders and non-riders alike.
Where the CTA is acting to expand, its skewed priorities are reinforcing the system’s current racial inequities. The South and West Sides of the city are drastically underserved compared to the North Side, with less frequent bus service and scant rail service. Yet, the CTA’s prized projects – the airport express and Circle Line – represent luxuries.
Enhancing bus service, extending the Red Line to 130th Street, restoring the Blue Line, and building the Mid-City Transitway (MCT) to connect the far Northwest, West, South, and Southeast Sides are all viable, more equitable alternatives. A Red Line extension has been on the table since 1973 and has $590 million in federal funding waiting if local officials can provide matching funds. An MCT rail line would require nearly the same capital investment as the Circle Line, but would yield more riders, cover nine more miles and bring rapid transit to communities most in need.
Significant financial burden is falling on workers and public transit’s most dependent riders as well. Even with the new bill, recent CTA fare increases for cash-paying riders stand, Metra fares are increasing by 10 percent, and we have no guarantee against future hikes. Meanwhile, paratransit riders have been ignored entirely – on February 1, their monthly pass will rise from $75 to $150, and single rides to $4.
The bill also calls for increasing the sales tax and real estate transfer tax, hitting low-income folks hardest. Illinois already claims one of the most regressive tax structures in the country, since the lowest-earning 20 percent carry nearly triple the tax burden of the top-earning one percent. While the bill lowers costs for seniors, it fails to help others in need, such as students, reduced-fare riders and family travelers. Additionally, the bill supports pension and health care cuts for CTA workers. We need to create better jobs, not dismantle existing ones.
More progressive funding is possible. Chicago’s corporations rely on public money to transport their employees to work, and ought to pay taxes for the service accordingly. Some businesses could even contribute assets, like parking spaces for park-and-rides.
The City of Chicago must also step up. The city contributes only $3 million annually, about 0.0005 percent of the 2008 budget. A fraction of the $500 million the city collects from TIF districts could go a long way toward improving transit without relying on regressive taxation. The federal government has a role as well. Restoring operating funds it eliminated 10 years ago would provide $50 million each year.
Finally, we must make decision-making more inclusive. Chicago Transit Board Chairwoman Carole Brown took just 53 trips on the CTA in 2006, yet a regular commuter would take 500. Those who operate and depend on public transit know the system best, and we cannot solve the crisis without their direct involvement. Workers and riders deserve seats on the RTA and CTA boards. The public deserves legitimate participation in planning and oversight in auditing. Holding public meetings only after important decisions have been made is unacceptable.
We all benefit from public transit. We get more accessible communities, easier commutes, good jobs and cleaner air. A world-class system that affordably serves everyone in our city and is truly accountable to the public is within reach. Now is the time to unite to make it happen.
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Michael Pitula is a community organizer with the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization. Kyle Schafer is a Transit Committee member of the Sustainable Chicago 2016 Coalition. Peter Zelchenko is a Leadership & Organizing Committee member of the Rider-Driver Alliance.
Posted on January 20, 2008