Why Illinois legislators must reach a transit funding solution by spring 2025—and what happens if they don’t
Chicago’s regional transit system is facing a projected operating shortfall of more than $730 million annually—or nearly 20% of the regional operating budget...
October 9, 2024
Illinois should learn from past transit funding crises and achieve sustainable funding
Public transit operations in the Chicago region have been chronically underfunded—particularly at the state level. Today, state funding makes up only 17% of ...
October 1, 2024
How peer states are addressing their transit systems’ fiscal cliffs
Public transit plays an essential role in the lives of millions of riders across the Chicago region and has the potential to reach even more people, but the ...
September 11, 2024
A pivotal choice for transit: RTA analysis explores outcome of either falling off the fiscal cliff or investing in transit
At the RTA’s August board meeting, staff presented new economic impact analyses illustrating two drastically different potential futures for the regional tra...
August 28, 2024
Coalition members provide feedback on possible reforms to improve service and accountability for riders
More than 140 riders, agency staff, legislative staff, advocates, and other stakeholders met virtually on July 31 for the fifth quarterly Transit is the Answ...
August 5, 2024
Join the RTA Transit is the Answer Coalition to discuss possible reforms to improve service and accountability for riders
Following the introduction of legislation that proposes changes to how the Chicago region’s transit agencies are organized, the RTA continues to lead convers...
July 15, 2024
Good news: Regional transit ridership reaches new high as CTA, Metra, and Pace increase service, offer new fare products
Ridership across Chicago’s transit system has continued to increase, with May 2024 seeing the highest ridership levels since 2019 for CTA, Metra, and Pace. T...
June 28, 2024
Legislative Update: Lawmakers pass state budget, action on transit funding still needed ahead of fiscal cliff
The Illinois General Assembly adjourned this year’s spring legislative session after passing an overall $53.1 billion budget for State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2025...
June 27, 2024
Read recaps and watch recordings of the RTA's four-part Transportation Tuesday webinar series
The RTA brought back Transportation Tuesday, its popular four-part webinar series each Tuesday May 28–June 18 from noon to 1:30 p.m. The free, virtual sessio...
June 25, 2024
Transportation Tuesday recap: Transit’s operating funding crisis
The rise of remote and hybrid work and its staying power post-COVID have resulted in significant losses in fare revenue and exacerbated the issue that most s...
June 21, 2024
Why fully funding paratransit service and reduced fare programs is key to closing the transit budget gap
With transit facing a fiscal cliff in the coming years, fully funding critical programs like ADA paratransit service and free and reduced fare programs is on...
February 29, 2024
RTA unveils 2024 legislative agenda to address fiscal cliff, improve regional transit system
Since the adoption of Transit is the Answer, the strategic plan for the region’s transit system, the State of Illinois has taken important legislative action...
November 27, 2023
