Protect public transit

Transportation systems in the Chicago area face a severe crisis, with a projected budget deficit for the CTA, Metra, and Pace of $720 million in 2026. The Illinois General Assembly, though, has the opportunity to protect and increase our state’s investments in public transit and clean vehicles by passing the Clean and Equitable Transportation Act (CETA). CETA has three pillars:

• The Transportation Choices Act establishes targets to reduce emissions from transportation by 80% and achieves net-zero emissions for Illinois’s transportation sector by 2050.

• The Metropolitan Mobility Authority Act implements transit funding and governing reforms to create a unified regional agency that can deliver safe, reliable, and frequent transit service.

• The Zero-Emissions Transportation Act increases the availability of zero-emission vehicles, moves public fleets to zero emissions, and funds infrastructure for charging electric vehicles.

One critical reform in CETA is combining the existing regional transit agencies into a new consolidated Metropolitan Mobility Authority. When I lived in the Boston area, I witnessed the effectiveness of such a combined agency — the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Every month, I bought one commuter card that gave me passage on commuter rail, rapid transit, and buses. In other words, one card fit all.

CETA also provides desperately needed state funding for public transit. Illinois now provides only 17.1% of funding for transit operations in the Chicago metro area. By contrast, Pennsylvania provides 50.1% of funding for Philadelphia’s mass transit. The Act will also create and protect good-paying carbon-free jobs. Transit generates 30% more jobs than new construction of roads and bridges per $1 billion spent.

Speaker of the House Chris Welch and Senate President Don Harmon must seek passage of CETA in the lame-duck session of the General Assembly and move Illinois’ transportation sector toward a sustainable future.

Christopher Johnson

Highland Park