* I tend to lean strongly in favor of increasing public funding for mass transit. I have lots of reasons for this, but it probably goes back to when I lived in Europe for over two years, where the transit is superb. At one point, my family lived in a small town out in the middle of nowhere West Germany. But there was a bus stop right at the end of our driveway. I could take that bus into a bigger town, transfer to a train and go all the way across the country to Munich, where I’d take the subway and transfer to a bus which took me right to my college dorm. Waits were minimal, delays were rare, and rates were cheap. It was almost as fast as driving. Today, with Germany’s severe Autobahn traffic problems, that same trip probably is faster than driving.
But stuff like this makes it very difficult to stick out my neck for increased mass transit funding…
The massive subway station under construction at Block 37 is running as much as $150 million over budget, a shortfall that has prompted city officials to move to privatize the project.
Sources close to the matter say the city has begun discussions with Macquarie — the Australian investment bank that two years ago paid the city $1.82 billion to lease the Chicago Skyway — about buying or leasing the Chicago Transit Authority station underneath the high-profile retail and office complex now being built.
Insiders say it’s clear that completing the station, which would connect the Red Line and Blue Line subway tunnels and potentially anchor airport-express train service, will cost $100 million to $150 million more than the $213.3 million originally budgeted.
It’s not that I oppose the privatization scheme. It’s the $150 million cost overrun that makes me hot under the collar. Unforgivable.
* And then there’s this…
The region’s transit officials have spent nearly $3 million on lobbying, reports and media blitzes to convince lawmakers a sales tax hike is needed to keep the buses and trains running.
The $400 million-plus in new extra taxes could prevent major fare hikes and service cuts at the CTA, Pace and Metra.
Still, after months of ads, community hearings and rallies, there is little agreement among top lawmakers on the proposal. State House members are expected to vote on the measure today.
But as wheelchair-bound para-transit riders crowd sweaty hearings about fare hikes and commuters stress over having fewer options, not many may realize the amount of money that goes into such a campaign.
It’s almost enough to make me wish that they don’t get the money they need. Almost.
Here’s why…
As many as 100,000 commuters may lose their rides if the CTA implements huge cutbacks it’s now planning for Sept. 16, not to mention cutbacks in the suburban Pace bus system. […]
But there will be 300 fewer buses on the street and 39 fewer routes come rush hour Monday morning Sept. 17, say CTA officials, if the General Assembly fails to act by then to provide new revenues for the system.
There are more cuts coming as well. Riders shouldn’t be held completely hostage by inept leadership.
* But the governor is doing his best to scuttle the plan, without coming up with a real alternative…
A spokeswoman for the governor phoned transportation reporters late last week dismissing the claim by Hamos and the RTA that the transit funding package is limited to a regional tax increase in the six counties of northeastern Illinois.
Blagojevich spokeswoman Abby Ottenhoff said “it’s a little-known fact in the legislation” that taxpayers statewide would be on the hook for increased funding to the CTA, Metra and Pace because of the required 25 percent state match on sales taxes in the RTA transit funding formula.
The RTA proposal would increase revenue that the state provides by $150 million, said Joe Costello, RTA’s chief financial officer. It is presumed the additional money would come from the state’s general revenue fund, he said. The RTA system received $186 million in state-matching public transportation funds in 2006.
Downstate communities would also receive about $27 million in new transportation funding under the plan.
The House is expected to vote on the bailout package this afternoon. If it goes down, Blagojevich should definitely get part of the blame, but so should the House Republicans who signed onto the proposal then backed out in favor of a magic casino that never materialized. And the blame should also be shared by the inept people who run our transit systems.
What a mess.