Operating dollars are what keep our regional transit system moving. From employee salaries to fuel to power the buses and trains, operating expenses encompass the cost of running the system on a daily basis. In 2026, the regional transit system is budgeted at $4.352 billion in operating expenses.
Read more in the 2026 Regional Operating Budget.
Governor JB Pritzker signed the Northern Illinois Transit Authority (NITA) Act into law in December 2025. The legislation includes an estimated amount of more than $1.2 billion in new operating funding for the regional transit system. This sustainable funding will allow the system to not just avoid cuts in 2026 and beyond, but improve service for millions of riders in the coming years.
The new operating funding will come from a combination of sales taxes on motor fuel and an increase in the regionwide RTA sales tax. The current RTA board must vote to approve the 0.25% increase to the RTA sales tax within sixty days of June 1, 2026. That change is expected to generate an estimated $478 million for the system. Additionally, a significant portion of the existing state sales tax on motor fuel will be dedicated to transit operations throughout the state with an 85 percent to 15 percent split for the Chicago region and downstate, generating an estimated $731 million annually starting on July 1, 2026. A new 25 percent recovery ratio requirement – lowered from the previous highest in the nation ratio of 50 percent – is waived for 2026 and further reduced to 20 percent in 2030.
Read more in a summary of the bill.
Read the most recent Annual Operating Budget and Capital program to learn more about how transit is funded or explore the sources of operating funding below.
System generated revenue is an important component of the annual transit budget, including fares paid by riders.
As of November 2025, ridership is at about 70 percent of pre-pandemic levels.
The Service Boards also generate revenue from advertising, concessions, rentals, and other partnerships.
Illinois law authorizes the RTA to impose a sales tax throughout the six-county Northeastern Illinois region. The RTA sales tax is collected by the Illinois Department of Revenue and paid to the Treasurer of the State of Illinois to be held in trust for the RTA outside of the State treasury. Proceeds from the RTA sales tax are paid directly to the RTA monthly.
The sales tax rates imposed by the RTA differ in order to recognize the differing levels of transit service provided in the six-county region. In Cook County the RTA imposes a 1.25% sales tax whereas in DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will Counties the rate is .50%.
*New* 2026 0.25% RTA Sales Tax: Authorized by the NITA Act in late 2025, an
additional sales tax of 0.25% in all six counties of the RTA region. Expected to be
effective in August 2026 and will be allocated by the NITA Board within the revised
funding formula for 2027 and beyond.
In 2008, the General Assembly granted the city of Chicago the authority to impose an additional Real Estate Transfer Tax (RETT) upon the privilege of transferring title to, or beneficial interest in, real property located in the City. The supplemental tax rate of $1.50 per $500 of the transfer price is imposed on all sales within the City for the purpose of providing financial assistance to the CTA. This supplemental tax rate is in addition to the tax rate of $3.75 per $500 of the transfer price that the City already imposed prior to 2008. The supplemental tax is referred to as the “CTA portion” of the RETT, and the $3.75 tax is referred to as the “City portion.”
Illinois law provides that the state transfers money from the State of Illinois’ General Revenue Fund to the Public Transportation Fund an amount equal to 30% of the revenue realized from the RTA Sales Tax and 30% of the revenue realized from the CTA’s portion of the Real Estate Transfer Tax (RETT) in the City of Chicago. Consequently, the state money dedicated to public transportation increases or decreases at a rate equal to the growth or decline of both sales tax and the RETT.
*New* - Also authorized by the NITA Act, the RTA region receives 85% of the 5.0% State portion of the existing 6.25% State sales tax on gasoline. Expected to be effective in July 2026 and will be allocated by the NITA Board within the revised funding formula for 2027 and beyond.
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