Transportation agencies convene for Earth Day

Talk about green - both the cash and environmental kind - dominated a rare gathering of transportation agencies Thursday.

Although the Chicago Transit Authority, Metra and Pace are often jostling for their share of scarce funding -- and the three organizations traditionally are disconnected from the Illinois tollway and Illinois Department of Transportation - all five agencies signed on to an Earth Day accord.

The pact committed participants to cooperate on improving the regional transportation system and to collaborate on securing funding. It recognized quality transportation creates a healthier environment.

"What we do changes the lives of people living in the region from the amount of time they spend in congestion to the air they breathe to how they spend their money," Illinois State Toll Authority Executive Director Paula Wolff said. Families in the region spend in excess of $30 billion a year on transportation, planners estimate.

But along with the Earth Day message, leaders had another point.

Funding for transit is "at best only enough to keep the system in a reasonable state of repair," Regional Transportation Authority Chairman Jim Reilly said. "We're not going to change the way people live unless we have five to six times what we've received in the last year." The state owes $280 million in tax receipts to the RTA, which passes the money onto the transit agencies. The shortfall could affect payments to the CTA, Pace and Metra if it's not received by June.

But when the guest of honor showed up at the summit, Gov. Pat Quinn came without a check.

"We have to deal with the fact that the state has a budget deficit of $13 billion," Quinn said, following remarks. "We're going to work with comptroller's office to get the RTA the money it needs to keep the transportation system strong." He blamed state lawmakers for not supporting his tax increase plan.

Quinn was asked about a bill to limit free fares for seniors to low-income riders, which a Senate committee quashed Wednesday. It would have generated about $37 million annually for transit. "The votes aren't there," Quinn said. "We need to move on."

The cash crunch facing transit in some ways has tightened the relationship between agencies, CTA Chairman Terry Peterson said, because "there's no resources to go back and forth on."

Peterson said he was intrigued by the recent success of a referendum in St. Louis. Voters approved a sales tax hike to improve and expand transit. You should never waste a crisis, Peterson said, adding "now is the time to raise the issue of how to invest in mass transit."

Tollway Director Bill Morris suggested that with the economy taking a toll on people's budgets, more efficiency might be the answer. "We need to look around the room and see if there's possibility of merging (transit) boards," he said.

Metra Chairman Carole Doris, however, said she had yet to see an example of agencies duplicating efforts.

Transportation agencies agreed to meet again on Earth Day 2011.