Be realistic on transit

Lately I’ve had the privilege of riding Metra’s Union Pacific Northwest train from Des Plaines to the Ogilvie center in Chicago and back. “So how’s ridership?” I asked a senior conductor. “What about this $771 million deficit I keep hearing about?” His answer in a nutshell: Fares should be increased. Ridership is down and it probably never will come back. “You can ride from Harvard to Chicago for less than $5. That should be $10 or $12 dollars.”

They, he said, of course referring to Metra managers, need to study ridership and train schedules and design fares to break even. “They don’t even try to break even,” he said.

Hello Kirk Dillard. (Chairman of the Regional Transportation Authority.) How many train conductors have you talked with lately? Do you have a financial plan for the additional monies you seek from state taxpayers? Have you studied fares vs projected ridership? Or do you just have your hands out begging?

I’ll listen to transit leaders when they have a solid financial plan.

Dan Brown

Des Plaines