We all just got stuck with a fare hike
Sure, it almost sounds good at first blush. Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn managed to get nearly two days of positive-sounding headlines about it. "Fare hikes averted."
Certainly it will be good news if Pace suburban bus officials are able to trim proposed route cuts this year. Route and service cuts would be especially dangerous for the paratransit riders for whom Pace quite literally provides a lifeline.
But let's be clear: What Quinn managed to muscle through this week amounts to a fare hike for hundreds of thousands of Illinoisans, many of whom don't have access to public transportation or don't use it, ever.
Quinn brokered a deal that will have the Regional Transportation Authority taking out a loan to be used by the Chicago Transit Authority. Here is the kicker: the state will give Pace $8.5 million in each of two years to avert fare increases for the disabled and it will pay the $15 million debt service on $83 million each year for the CTA in this shell game. The state? Yes, that's all of us, whether we use public transit or not.
"We brought people together to come up with a fiscally responsible plan. The voters will like this," Quinn said Wednesday, betraying his real motivation for pushing this deal. He thinks it will help his election bid. It should not.
This is not the first time Quinn resorted to taking out a loan to avoid the painful decisions on cuts and tax hikes that must be made soon. Earlier this year, he took out loans to push off tough calls on the state's $11 billion shortfall.
Yes, we're trying to dig our way out of a horrible recession and unemployment is at highs we've not seen for decades, but our elected officials have a borrowing addiction they must kick.
This kind of fiscal irresponsibility hurts us and our children and grandchildren. State officials too often and for too long have borrowed to fund pensions and avoid making cuts.
When are they going to, once and for all, quit thinking that taking out loan after loan after loan is somehow an answer to all of our difficult problems?
As part of this deal, Pace agreed to freeze paratransit fares only for two years and the CTA froze fares too. Metra still will hike some fares. Excuse our skepticism, but we suspect the frozen fares will go up in two years and soon enough all state taxpayers will be facing another tax hike in addition to the one we, in essence, just got stuck with when Quinn secured this deal.
Quinn and legislators still should have found the courage to end free rides for seniors who are not low income. That would have generated an extra $37 million that would have gone a long way to solving this crisis in a much more equitable way. Seniors who can afford to pay for the public transit they use would have paid. But seniors vote and Quinn's made it clear votes are on his mind. His actions this week should not win him any.