Legislature considering taking away free rides

State Rep. Suzi Bassi, a Palatine Republican, has offered legislation that requires seniors to meet income guidelines in order to qualify for free rides on public transportation, but the idea faces a tough road to passage.

A spokesman said Friday that Gov. Patrick Quinn likes the idea of free transportation for seniors, and he won't support efforts to restrict it. Spokesman Bob Reed says Quinn considers the free rides a service that shouldn't be taken away from seniors.

Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich added the free ride program to a mass transit tax increase bill in January 2008. The House overwhelmingly approved a bill that would have offered the rides only to the needy, but that measure died in the Senate.

Bassi's bill would limit free rides to seniors who qualify under the state's low-income guidelines. Other seniors would still get reduced or half-fare rides.

She told ABC 7 Chicago that her proposal would return the senior fare structure to where it was before "Rod Blagojevich's publicity stunt."

Chicago-area transit agencies have said the free rides are costing them as much as $58 million this year and blunting the effects of the tax increase that was installed to stave off fare increases and service disruptions.

Advocacy groups such as AARP Illinois and Metro Seniors in Action say they have no position yet on the rollback.