CTA Doomsday '07: September 2007 Archives

So, the crisis has been averted for now.

The CTA and Pace are backing off from planned fare hikes and/or service cuts that would have taken effect Sunday. But stopgap funding from Governor Blagojevich has only delayed doomsday budget cuts until Nov. 4.

What do you think the odds are that state legislators can come to agreement by then on a transit funding package?

If they don't, transit officials are predicting an even bigger meltdown than would have occurred Sunday. For instance, the CTA would have to lay off 1,000 people instead of 600, and more bus and rail routes would be cut, President Ron Huberman said Friday. Metra has also said that it would have to raise fares next year, and Pace would be just a skeleton of its former self with the drastic service reductions that officials have outlined.

Here's hoping the next six weeks in Springfield are a lot more productive than the last 9 months.

Threatened CTA fare hikes and service cuts may be off the table if the RTA board accepts a $24 million bailout from Gov. Blagojevich.

In a morning meeting at the Thompson Center, the governor offered to immediately advance the full amount of a state subsidy to the CTA's umbrella organization, the Regional Transportation Authority.

That would enable the RTA to give the Chicago Transit Authority a $24 million funding boost right now — money that could allow the agency to avoid service cuts and fare hikes until Nov. 4.

They say politicians like to release bad news on Fridays. Well, this announcement from Senate President Emil Jones' office certainly gives some weight to that theory:

Jones said the Senate has postponed a special session that would have been held Monday to discuss a funding package for mass transit. The meeting was rescheduled for Sept. 17, a day after the CTA's doomsday deadline for service cuts and fare hikes. Pace will also increase fares for paratransit riders on the 16th.

Read about it here.