Ah, the fall weather brings a crispness to the air, the changing color of leaves–and a projected Chicago Transit Authority fare hike. Once again, the CTA is saying that it will need extra money from transit patrons to meet its budget, and this time,
Ah, the fall weather brings a crispness to the air, the changing color of leaves–and a projected Chicago Transit Authority fare hike.
Once again, the CTA is saying that it will need extra money from transit patrons to meet its budget, and this time, they are only asking for a quarter. We should feel fortunate that the proposed hike and some limited service cuts are all that are being discussed. This time last year, we were being warned of draconian cuts that would not allow most people to get to work. We were told that fares would have to rise dramatically in order to keep even limited service. We were told that some way, somehow, the state would have to provide a dedicated funding stream for mass transit or it would simply go the way of the dodo, or Chicago Republicans.
But none of those things happened. Instead, millions were found to keep the buses running, and free rides for seniors were thrown in to sweeten the pot. Since then, free rides for the disabled were also floated, though no one thought to float the money for any of those free rides.
As a result, according to CTA President Ron Huberman, the authority doesn’t have enough money to keep the buses operating.
The fare hike will bring the regular CTA fare to $2.25, which is, while not the highest in the country, pretty high. It is just another weight on the backs of the working poor in Chicago. Gas prices are high, food prices are high, you cannot buy a car, banks aren’t lending money and home heating prices are driving up the demand for blankets. Add that to the highest sales tax in the nation, and Chicago residents can be forgiven if they feel like the sky is falling.
What is most distressing is that in the midst of all of this, our elected officials (those people who are supposed to speak up for us), are strangely silent. Where are the aldermen speaking out against the fare hikes? Where are the county board members who say a fare hike will severely affect those people who rely on the bus to get to work and who haven’t received a pay increase to cover the increase in transportation costs? Where is the testimony stating that cutting routes will mean that some constituents simply won’t be able to get to work?
It is one thing to have CTA make its case for more money, but it is another to have that be the only point of view registered. It may be that CTA really needs the money, but no one should allow the idea of dedicated funding for CTA to simply evaporate like bus exhaust.
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