‘Transit should be easy’: Pritzker signs reform bill, plugging $1.5 billion into Metra, Pace, CTA system

Gov. JB Pritzker signed legislation Tuesday that rescues Metra, Pace and the CTA from financial implosion, steers $1.5 billion to transit, and promises to deliver upgrades like universal fares.

“Doomsayers were already writing obituaries for Illinois transit,” Pritzker said at a Union Station briefing. “(But) far from heading toward the abyss … we are on the verge of delivering a world-class transportation network. The measure preserves affordability and makes transit safer and more reliable.”

The law creates the new Northern Illinois Transit Authority to replace the Regional Transit Authority in 2026. NITA has greater authority over budgets, fares and planning for Metra, Pace and the CTA.

Improvements promised in the legislation include more frequent buses and trains, beefed-up security to prevent crime on the CTA, and integrated regional transit instead of three separate “silos.”

“We’re enacting rider-focused reforms for the future rather than patching together a system from a bygone era,” Senate President Don Harmon said.

“What I would like is for people to walk out their front door, get on a bus, transfer to a train, transfer to another bus to get to their work, their doctor, their school without waiting too long, without feeling unsafe — without even knowing whether they were on a bus that was operated by the CTA, a train by Metra or a van operated by Pace,” he added.

“Transit should be easy, safe, clean and timely.”

Illinois AFL-CIO President Tim Drea said the law “has the framework for a safer and more pleasant experience for riders, with dedicated law enforcement on transit, an ambassador program to make sure that people can have help (and) the development of a new user friendly app that somebody can (use) to get to Naperville or Wrigley Field.”

COVID-19-related ridership drops triggered looming budget shortfalls for Metra, Pace and the CTA, which would have resulted in 40% train and bus reductions. The new funding boost will be generated by raising the RTA sales tax and shifting revenues and interest from the state Road Fund.

That financing was controversial, as was hiking tolls by 45 cents for cars and 30% for trucks in 2027, which was tucked into the bill to obtain labor union buy-in. It also includes cost-of-living increases every two years starting in 2029.

The Illinois tollway clarified in November that any new rate hikes are up to its board, not the legislature, which Pritzker acknowledged Tuesday.

He added the agency is working on a new capital program, and no toll revenue will be used for transit.

“They haven’t raised tolls in the state of Illinois for some time,” Pritzker said. “There was probably going to be something from the tollway authority to meet the new plan that is being put forward by them over the next six to 12 months.”

Most Republicans voted against the bill when it passed in veto session on Oct. 31.

“It is going to make life even more expensive for suburban families with tax hikes and surcharges, while reducing suburban representation on transit decisions,” Senate Republican Leader John Curran of Downers Grove said in a statement.

Numerous suburban leaders have argued the makeup of the NITA board is weighted in favor of Chicago and Cook County at the expense of the Collar Counties.

Meanwhile, there’s still work for the RTA, Chair Kirk Dillard said, adding one of the agency’s last actions will be to vote on the sales tax increase next year.

“I don’t know who will be on the new NITA board but they have the power now over service standards, over safety, over infrastructure coordination, to make this a regional transit system as opposed to a Balkanized one,” he said.