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2015 Budgets
Chicago Transit Authority
Proposed 2015 Capital Program of Projects,
2015 Operating Budget and Program,
and the Financial Plan for 2016 and 2017
No fare hikes, service cuts in CTA’s $1.44B 2015 budget
Chicago Sun-Times, 10/26/2014
Rosalind Rossi
For the second year in a row, the Chicago Transit Authority is proposing a good-news budget packing no fare increases or service cuts — and even adding some service for rail riders.
The $1.44 billion CTA budget for next year reflects a 4.5 percent increase in spending, balanced in part by higher RTA sales tax revenue.
It appears to be one less 2015 re-election headache for Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who had the first quote in a CTA news release early Monday: “This spending plan not only maintains vital service in neighborhoods across the city, it continues uprecedented investment to modernize the system to benefit riders while building a strong foundation for the future,’’ Emanuel was quoted as saying.
The budget is balanced for the fourth straight year under CTA President Forrest Claypool and does not transfer capital funds to cover operating costs.
It predicts a 1.1 percent increase in rail rides and a .4 increase in the already larger number of bus rides in 2015. As a result, officials say, current bus service levels will be maintained but rail services will increase slightly.
Two rush-hour trips each will be added to the Blue Line and the Orange Line in 2015, following extra runs scheduled for the Red, Purple, Brown and Orange lines this fall through the end of the year.
Some morning and evening rush rail service is being added “where most trains are at full capacity,’’ CTA spokesman Brian Steele said. “This will provide more comfortable service for riders on the busiest rail routes.’’
Some questioned why rail lines were adding service but not bus routes, which have seen cuts in recent years. Proposed cuts to the No. 11 Lincoln Avenue bus and some express bus routes, as well as pass price increases, brought hordes of protesters to the CTA’s 2013 budget hearings. CTA officials said at the time that cuts eliminated “redundant” service, including the availability of CTA trains within half a mile.
“They are ignoring the bus riders,’’ said Kevin Peterson, of Citizens Taking Action for Transit Dependent Riders. “The reason we lost all that ridership was because of the fact they did all those bus cuts.’’
The 2015 calender year should see the opening of the CTA’s 146th rail station — the new Cermak/McCormick Place station on the Green Line, making McCormick Place accessible by rail for convention goers.
The $5 billion capital plan, which kicked off under Emanuel and Claypool, continues the renovation or, in some cases, full reconstruction, of one-third of the system’s rail stations. Among the largest is the $240 million the Red Line’s 95th Street Station, which is still under construction.
For bus riders, the fanciest new plus is the prospect of bus rapid transit, known as BRT, which lets buses travel in dedicated lanes, ususally with traffic-signal priority. The budget predicted construction would begin in 2015 on the Loop BRT, providing curbside bus priority lanes along 2 miles of Madison, Washington, Canal and Clinton.
But the budget’s description of the more controversial Ashland BRT was more tentative. Critics contend that running 16 miles of dedicated bus lanes down the center of Ashland, with only a handful of left turns allowed, would hurt businesses and increase traffic on adjacent residential streets.
“The CTA will continue to study” the Ashland BRT, “taking into account public comments and technical analysis,’’ the CTA’s 2015 budget said. “The design will be subject to further public comment and dependent on the receipt of project funding.’’
Public hearings on the 2015 budget are scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 17, at CTA headquarters, 567 W. Lake.
