RTA requests input on proposed amendment to the 2026 Operating Budget

April 17, 2026

Amendment will fund priorities consistent with the NITA Act on public safety, seamless service, affordable fares, and a better rider experience

Late last year, Governor JB Pritzker signed the Northern Illinois Transit Authority (NITA) Act, a historic transit funding and reform package that will bring an estimated $1.2 billion in new annual operating funding to the system. This blog is one in a series exploring how the NITA Act aims to improve our region’s transit network.

The RTA, CTA, Metra, and Pace are requesting input on a proposed amendment to the 2026 Operating Budget to allocate funding to key rider-focused improvements in alignment with the NITA Act. The RTA Board of Directors will vote on the amendment at its May meeting, with Service Boards following in June. Learn more about what this proposed amendment would fund—including transit safety and security enhancements, improved service, affordable fare programs, and more—by reading on and watch a presentation to the Board of Directors during their April meeting.

What are the goals of the proposed amendment?

There are two goals of the Proposed 2026 Operating Budget Amendment:

1. Fund rider-facing improvements and meet the first deadlines required by the NITA Act. The NITA Act mandates a variety of new initiatives and programs, some of which have approaching deadlines soon after the law’s effective date of June 1, 2026.
2. Reserve remaining funds so the incoming NITA Board can set longer-term priorities later this year. 2026 is a year of transition for the region’s transit system governance. New transit board members will be seated later this summer or fall and will oversee the 2027 budget process.

How much money is involved?

The Approved 2026 Budget passed in December 2025 allocated nearly half of anticipated new transit funding to close existing Service Board budget gaps. Roughly $320 million is expected to be available later this year to be utilized by NITA and the Service Boards. This proposal invests $132.2 million in near-term priorities that riders and employees can begin seeing this year, while reserving the balance for the future NITA Board to determine.

What improvements are included?

Throughout the past year, the RTA has analyzed its quarterly customer panel survey to better understand what riders are experiencing and what they want changed and improved. Top priorities among riders have been safety, followed by service improvements, capital improvements, service expansion, and finally seamless and affordable fares. The proposed budget amendment reflects these priorities.

Beginning in January, the RTA convened working groups on five topics with representatives from CTA, Metra, Pace, and the state of Illinois to discuss proposals for additional investments, which then were evaluated and put into this proposal. This collaborative approach stands in contrast to the previous process for budget amendments which relied on ad hoc requests and formulaic funding. The proposal includes:

$59.6 million: Additional Safety & Security Investments on Transit

• An increased human presence on transit vehicles and in stations
  • Additional sworn officers from the Chicago Police Department, Metra police force, and Cook County Sheriffs
  • More security/response staff including K-9 patrols and Safe Ride Specialists who provide crisis intervention
  • More health and human services support
  • Early efforts to set up a transit ambassador program
• Improved conditions for frontline staff
  • Bus shields on all buses as required by the NITA Act
  • Body worn cameras for operator safety
• Technology upgrades
  • Safety software and an incident reporting app
• Creation of a regional Law Enforcement Task Force and NITA Office of Transit Safety and Experience

$53.6 million: Service expansion and enhancement

• Staffing increases to expand service
  • CTA will invest in its Frequent Bus Network adding four more routes, as well as route extensions, and increased service hours on up to six routes
  • Metra will advance its Rock Island Line regional rail initiative
  • Pace will prepare to add more weekend suburban bus service by funding garage staffing at every location
• Prioritize service reliability and delivery
  • CTA will focus on rail slow zone mitigation, rail car maintenance, Automated Bus Lane Enforcement (ABLE) expansion, and more. Riders could see reliability improvements on up to 35 routes.
• Advance facilities upgrades and cleaning, such as adding mid-line cleaning on the Red and Blue lines.

$10 million: Expanded affordability

• Expansion of the Access Pilot Program to riders experiencing low incomes on CTA and Pace (currently this pilot is only available for Metra riders)
• Merge the RTA and CTA Transit Benefit Programs
• Harmonize fare policies for students, free and reduced fares, U-Pass, and other programs as a first step toward full regional fare consolidation
• Continue the Regional Day Pass (currently a pilot)

$5.4 million: Improved customer information

• Upgrades including a full-scale signage modernization pilot at 10 key interagency locations across the collar counties, suburban Cook, and the City of Chicago
• Language and accessibility improvements such as multilingual signage in specific locations, improved translation services, and creating a Language Access Plan as required by the NITA Act
• Digital information expansion and standardization, including real-time elevator status for all three Service Boards

$3.8 million: Land use programs to encourage transit supportive development

• Additional funding for Community Planning grants to fast-track the People Over Parking Act implementation, which impacts mandatory minimum parking requirements for certain developments
• Additional funding for Access to Transit grants to improve the areas around transit stops and stations
• Equitable Transit Oriented Development study for new Green Line station in Englewood

Next steps

RTA shared the Proposed 2026 Operating Budget Amendment with the Board of Directors for feedback at their April 16 meeting. Details of the proposal will also be shared with key stakeholders and advocates at the next Transit is the Answer Coalition meeting on Wednesday, April 29, from 9:30–11 a.m. All are welcome, but registration is required.

Public comment on the proposal will be accepted April 20–May 8 via the RTA website or by emailing communications@rtachicago.org.

After incorporating feedback, the RTA will finalize the proposal with the Service Boards and bring the budget amendment to the May RTA Board meeting for a vote. With a vote of approval from the RTA Board, the Service Boards will then seek approval to incorporate the budget amendment into their budgets. Subject to available funding from the NITA Act, implementation of the new initiatives would begin in the second half of the year, and financial reporting on the amended budget to the RTA Board would begin in July.