Daily Herald opinion: Mortals and transit management: Public will be watching to make sure promises of reform come true

Elected officials and public transportation leaders were all smiles and enthusiasm Wednesday, as Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed legislation that didn’t just rescue the region’s system from imminent collapse but set it on a path toward, in Pritzker’s words, “a world-class transportation network.”

At a bill signing ceremony at Chicago’s Union Station, state Senate President Don Harmon provided what essentially amounts to the vision statement for a new transit operation re-structured for efficiency and rider service.

“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,” Harmon said.

We say, “From Harmon’s mouth to God’s ears.”

But unfortunately, it will not be divine intervention but mortal oversight managing the $1.5 billion infusion into the public transportation system, so we’ll have to be forgiven if we have more hope than faith.

There is, to be sure, some foundation for the hope. The system’s designers promise that in practice, the collar counties will still have influence and protection on the new 20-member Northern Illinois Transit Authority governing board. They say the clout added to this new board will assure seamless integration of a three-headed design structure that they acknowledge was part of a “patchwork” system that had evolved over time. They’re confident the economy can sustain a transit sales tax hike and that tollway users and commercial transportation can absorb the substantially higher tolls, all of which combine to form the backbone of the funding formula for the new plan.

But the faith requires the overseers be aware that realistic doubts also cloud this occasion. Illinois taxpayers, not to mention regional commuters, have heard these promises before. We have seen the visions of one generation of political and bureaucratic leaders fracture into disappointments, excuses and new crises. We have seen assurances that the city of Chicago, the powerful gorilla in the room, would be a respectful partner in the process leak into realities of political maneuvering and disregard.

So, we acknowledge and welcome the benefits that seem to be built into the new reforms set to take place in the region’s transportation system. But we have trepidation as well. The leaders who were so enthusiastic and positive on Wednesday should know that transit users, taxpayers and all who benefit from the public transportation and all who pay to support it will be watching and working to make sure these mortal overseers make that vision a reality.