Eye On Illinois: Dozens of state transit agencies, big and small, looking to close funding gaps

Public transportation is big business. And in Illinois, it’s also big government.

The Chicago area has the Regional Transportation Authority, which sits atop a flow chart above Metra Commuter Rail, Pace Suburban Bus and the Chicago Transit Authority to service more than 2 million daily riders in six counties: Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will. According to RTAChicago.org, the agencies serve a population of 6.1 million via 5,800 route miles across 356 lines with 24,500 stations and stops.

The RTA Board itself has 16 members. Each of those counties gets one appointment, the Chicago Mayor names five and the Cook County Board members who don’t represent Chicago appoint four. At least 11 of those people have to agree on the 16th member (former state Sen. Kirk Dillard has been chairman since 2014), then that person appoints the executive director, also subject to approval from 11 directors.

For the other 6.6 million Illinoisans, there are 54 different transit agencies, according to a Monday Capitol News Illinois report. With RTA, they lobby through the Illinois Public Transportation Association, which is scheduled to be at the Statehouse Thursday.

That long-scheduled event follows a series of 2024 Senate Transportation Committee hearings illuminating how challenges differ outside the state’s primary metropolitan area. Whereas the RTA remains focused on a “fiscal cliff” – a projected $771 million deficit starting next year – the other agencies are seeing a more gradually growing gap as local revenues flag.

According to CNI, it’s getting tougher to maintain a 65-35 state-local funding split because the state can only allocate so much (and paid $150 million less than was budgeted in fiscal 2024) and the locals can’t generate as much revenue as they used to given expenses are increasing and sales taxes aren’t doing the job.

The IRTA wants to adjust the formula so that instead of 7.5% of sales tax revenue being funneled to transportation, the figure would be 9.4% through fiscal 2034, when it would increase to 12%. It also wants the state to pay 75% of urban agency expenses and 80% for those serving fewer than 50,000 people.

“We are requesting public transit agencies to come forward with reforms to ensure that the level of service that’s being provided to our residents meets their needs,” Senate Transportation Committee Chairman Ram Villivalam, D-Chicago, told CNI. “There’s a consensus that we need to fund public transit. What level of service, what the governance looks like, what level of funding – those are questions that we’re going to come together and work on.”

Good sentiments, but Illinois is overdue for loud-speaking actions. Aimless consolidation is no cure, but no agency has made a strong case for just pouring new money into the current systems.

• Scott T. Holland writes about state government issues for Shaw Local News Network. He can be reached at sholland@shawmedia.com.