Transit agencies must cooperate

In recent weeks, we have witnessed a public dust-up among the leaders of the region’s transit systems. The chairman of the Regional Transportation Authority says Pace, Metra and the CTA are wasting public dollars through the duplication of services and the lack of cooperation. The three operating agencies fired right back with allegations of waste and excessive spending at the RTA.

Oddly enough, the public dispute is a healthy airing of problems in the system and could finally lead to some overdue reforms. As The Daily Herald pointed out in a June 7 editorial (“Transit savings are ready to be found”), the politics of regional transit makes change difficult to achieve. That’s why there hasn’t been enough of it since the overhaul of the system in 1983. Since that revision, the region has changed considerably. There are 1.2 million more people and over 1 million more jobs. Sixty-two percent more people commute from collar counties to jobs in Cook County. Twice as many people commute from Cook County to work in collar counties. Nearly 350 percent more workers commute from one collar county to another. Transit use is down 20 percent.

Despite these changes, our transit agencies don’t have a plan to reverse trends and double transit use, even though studies show that’s what is needed to reduce road traffic delay and spur economic growth. The way we are organized to deliver transit services has not changed. Capital dollars are still allocated to the three transit agencies using decades-old formulas.

The Daily Herald encouraged the “heads of these agencies and their board of directors ... to keep the debate flowing,” and we agree. It is also important that county and municipal leaders, legislators and the public speak up. Our region cannot afford to go another 30 years under the same outdated system.

George Ranney

President and CEO

Metropolis Strategies

Grayslake