Don't blame seniors for CTA's troubles

Seniors and CTA unions are being made scapegoats in the CTA's funding woes. Go back and look at the legislation as passed.

Suburbs and collar counties got slapped with a one-half percent RTA sales tax increase.

Chicago got only a quarter percent RTA sales tax increase, the rest supposedly to come from an increase in the real estate transfer tax.

The housing market nose-dived and the transfer tax never materialized.

Solution: Increase Chicago RTA sales tax to one-half percent, just like the rest of us who live outside Chicago and do not ride the CTA pay.

I'll bet you that quarter percent increase in Chicago's RTA sales tax will cover the CTA's deficit. The Daily Herald should find out what that quarter percent will bring in to fund the CTA and stop blaming the seniors. It's not fair that the rest of us in the six-county area have to pay one-half percent RTA sales tax on all purchases, while Chicago residents only pay a quarter percent to fund the largest tax eater in the six county area, their own CTA.

Metra has no idea as to how many seniors they carry due to their fare collection system. They will still run the same length trains, with or without the seniors.

The CTA's loss figures are faulty. The only true comparison is how many seniors rode the CTA in the month before the free rides, compared to the month after. If seniors lose their free rides, the paid fares will drop to what they were before the free rides. The CTA never disclosed those figures. CTA assumes that all the free riders they have now will continue to ride and pay the fare. Common sense says that it will revert to previous senior ridership.

R.A. Roth

Elgin