RTA head says transit funds good, but not enough

Stimulus money now being spent on big-city transportation networks, while helpful, isn't enough over the long haul to keep aging systems from falling into further disrepair, a top Chicago transit agency official said Tuesday.

Chicago-area commuter trains, subway and buses received around $400 million from the federal stimulus bill and secured nearly $1 billion from a small construction plan approved by the Illinois legislature last month.

But that still falls short of the estimated $10 billion Chicago networks will need over five years to bring infrastructure into good repair and to expand some services, said Steve Schlickman, director of the Regional Transportation Authority.

The RTA had hoped a larger construction bill state legislators are now discussing would include an additional $4 billion for mass transit, most of which would go to Chicago, but it appears the amount will end up being closer to $2 billion, he said.

"This year is going to be the best one-year capital program we've ever had," Schlickman told The Associated Press. "But if the state doesn't add more in terms of a multiyear program, then we fall off a cliff again."

While some of the worst stretches of Chicago's 242 miles of subway track have been repaired over the past year, other parts remain so shoddy that trains designed to travel more than 50 mph must slow to the pace of a horse at trot.

"There are fewer slow zones temporarily, but if they don't get more capital, the number of slow zones will start to increase," Schlickman said.

Key federal transit-funding legislation is also up for reauthorization, but Schlickman said it didn't seem U.S. legislators were in the mood to approve the hundreds of billions transit networks nationwide say they'll need over several years.

"Because of the economic situation we're in -- which is a very good reason -- there isn't the political will to dramatically increase infrastructure funding," he said.

Schlickman said the White House hasn't weighed in yet on longer term funding, but he said he held out hope President Barack Obama, who is from Chicago, would advocate on mass transit's behalf.

"This is the first urban president in my lifetime. He understands what's important in the urban fabric -- and clearly transit is one of those elements," Schlickman said. "After a year, everyone's going to be assessing whether we were right or wrong. But I think we need to give him a year."