Is seniors ride free threatened just like suburban deer?

It's been a perfect storm of transportation issues in the past week. Time to recap a few and shine some light on the underexposed items.

When I first started covering transportation in January 2008, I was caught up in a bona fide public transit budget crisis with looming fare hikes, service reductions and controversy over former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's political maneuvering that created the seniors-ride-free program.

Fast forward to October 2009 and we have a public transit budget crisis with looming fare hikes, service reductions and controversy over former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's political maneuvering that created the seniors-ride-free program.

To recap, the CTA, Metra and Pace are facing budget shortfalls and want to raise fares to help bridge the gap. Meanwhile, eyes are turning to the free-rides program and the possibility of the General Assembly revising the law so only low-income seniors receive the benefit.

While some doubt such a volatile issue has legs with the 2010 election on the horizon, Senate Republican leader Christine Radogno broached the idea during a meeting with Gov. Pat Quinn, Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton, all Democrats, and Republican House leader Tom Cross last week.

"There was not any stated opposition," Radogno spokeswoman Patty Schuh said. "Everyone was committed to reviewing it." The next step is finding a way to introduce legislation restricting free rides to seniors making $22,200 or less in the meat-grinder atmosphere of the fall veto session that continues Oct. 28.

Radogno "feels strongly a senior partner in a law firm doesn't deserve a free ride downtown," Schuh said. "Every dollar counts."

Meanwhile, I've been getting e-mails on the subject from readers like Mickey. He says, "if you curtail the number of seniors who would ride downtown, there will be millions of dollars of lost revenue for the city! I would dare to say as a senior who goes downtown, I spend close to $100 every trip. For some reason I did not go downtown until I got my free pass. Now, it's once a month. Cutting out a $5 to $10 fare cost and losing $90 seems a little shortsighted."

A counterpoint comes from Clare. "Even BEFORE the free rides for seniors came out, I was a paying customer," she writes. "I think it's a great service - but - if need be I'd go back to paying the fares. I do miss driving ... can't afford a car. I'm 72 years old with lots of medical expenses. I think of the Metra as my second car ... and that's an old advertisement but a good one."

Flotsam and jetsam

• Deer in the headlights. It's rainy, it's getting dark and there's a suicidal deer lurking out there. The Illinois Department of Transportation just released its annual tally of deer crashes by county. All I can say is, watch out in Cook County. It leads the region with a whopping 1,008 deer crash totals, followed by Will County with 570. Less deer-crazed were Lake County with 553 deer-vehicle showdowns, Kane with 524, and McHenry, 366. In DuPage, where apparently deer are well-behaved, had only 186. Please, be careful out there.

• The north and south of it. The University of Illinois at Chicago's Urban Transportation Center recently received a $300,000 grant from the Canadian National Railway for research into freight rail issues, such as safety at grade crossings. And it's also getting attention from the southern hemisphere, UIC research professor Joseph DiJohn said. The center is working with transit officials in Bogota, Colombia, advising them on how to build a subway there.

• Metra's new Web site had some glitches starting up in early September so I decided to give it a try this month to see if the kinks were worked out. I logged onto the My Metra account and bought a 10-ride pass. The transaction occurred on a late afternoon Monday and the tickets arrived on a Thursday, a pretty good turnover, I'd say.

Incoming

• Pace starts its hearings on proposed bus route cuts and paratransit fare increases. Forums include: 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Monday, Pace Headquarters, 550 W. Algonquin Road, Arlington Heights; 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, College of DuPage West Campus - OCC Bldg-128A, 425 Fawell Blvd., Glen Ellyn; 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Kane County Government Center Auditorium, 719 S. Batavia Ave., Geneva; 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Waukegan Public Library, 128 N. County St., Waukegan.

• If you're a fan of model cars, airplanes, boats, helicopters, trucks or trains, this is your weekend. The iHobby Expo runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont. For information, check out www.giantshow.com.