RTA needs to refine its focus

The Regional Transportation Authority recently suggested that CTA, Metra and Pace work more closely to consolidate services and save money. Your newspaper rightly reported that our transit agencies are already doing so. With new leadership at Metra and CTA, combined with Pace’s veteran leadership, the transit agencies have significantly stepped up interagency efforts to save taxpayer dollars. CTA and Pace are implementing a new Open Fare system and have agreed to restructure overlapping bus service; CTA, Metra and Pace announced the renewal of the Link-Up Pass, which works on all three agencies; and CTA and Metra are finalizing a joint purchasing agreement for common supplies and are exploring the possibility of a joint project labor agreement.

However, as the RTA’s own market research shows, CTA, Metra and Pace serve very diverse customer bases. Therefore, the belief that a “one size fits all” approach would be effective doesn’t add up. Bigger is not necessarily better.

When it comes to duplicate layers of bureaucracy, however, it is the RTA that would benefit from a closer self-examination. When circumstances require alterations to capital projects, CTA, Metra and Pace must submit changes to both RTA and the Illinois Department of Transportation in a lengthy bureaucratic process — causing delays and millions of dollars in higher construction costs. RTA also duplicates auditing and oversight functions of the Federal Transit Administration and functions of local planners. These added layers of bureaucracy are burdensome and inefficient, draining vital funds from transit service.

While CTA, Metra and Pace have constrained their payrolls, cut service and/or raised fares, the RTA head count has grown from 93 in 2006 to 122 this year. We believe that every dollar not necessary for RTA’s legal mission of financial oversight should be spent on direct service delivery where it can benefit the taxpayers of northeastern Illinois.

Forrest Claypool

President, Chicago Transit Authority

Alex Clifford

Executive director/chief executive officer, Metra

T.J. Ross

Executive director, Pace