Vallas: Chicago Transit Authority is city’s 3rd budget crisis

Chicago faces financial meltdowns on three fronts: the city budget, Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Transit Authority. The CTA faces a $577 million deficit, but it can be fixed.

Besides the City of Chicago and the Chicago Public Schools, the city is facing a third major financial crisis: the Chicago Transit Authority.

By 2026, when COVID money runs out, the CTA’s budget shortfall is projected to be $577 million. That deficit dwarfs the city and schools’ budget deficits: it will be almost 26.7% of the current $2.16 billion budget. Neither the CTA nor City Hall offer any evidence they can address the crisis and avoid major fare increases or service cuts.

The severity of the current crisis is rooted in the dramatic drop in ridership combined with the transit system’s apparent inability or unwillingness to rein-in costs despite this drop.

As of 2023, CTA ridership remained at 60% of the pre-pandemic, 2019 levels. Rail ridership is down 46%. The fare box currently recovers barely one-fifth of the operating costs. It all leads to a high likelihood of a major fare increase and service cuts once pandemic money is spent.

Short of a massive federal bailout and state subsidies, there’s no financial solution to the present budget crisis without restoring ridership. Transit agencies have threatened to cut services by 40%, but draconian fare increases and service cuts will only decrease ridership and hurt finances further. The key to restoring ridership is in the CTA prioritizing public safety and providing consumers with confidence that public transportation is safe and reliable.

A WBEZ survey of CTA riders last year concluded there is a real perception the CTA is unsafe. Almost half (45%) said they felt “somewhat unsafe” or “very unsafe” riding a bus or train, while a similar percentage (47%) said they felt “fairly safe.” Only 7% of respondents said they felt “very safe” riding a bus or train in the past 30 days. That is a disaster for any public transit system.

There’s also the direct link between public safety and reliable service. The general perception about safety is shared by CTA transit operators. This has a direct impact on transit operators’ work – creating morale issues, impacting their productivity and contributing to absenteeism. It also undermines the transit system’s ability to retain and recruit transit operators, which in turn leads to schedule delays, gaps and inconsistencies.

Presently there are only 130 police officers assigned full time to transit duty, according to the Chicago Police Department. They are occasionally supplemented by other officers. These officers must cover 79 stations, 146 platforms and 335 trains. This is pitifully low when the mayor’s security detail has almost as many officers. New York City has over 1,000 full-time NYPD officers dedicated to public transit.

Making public transportation safe requires the creation of a special transportation police unit under its own commander. The unit should be staffed with Chicago Police officers specifically selected and trained for the job. At least 400 additional officers could be added to the police already assigned, using money spent on the unarmed, poorly trained private security. The transit police could be supplemented with part-time police retirees and other officers.

The transit police would have “manned posts” on all major CTA stations and bus terminals, with patrols walking the train platforms and riding the trains both in uniform and undercover. Panic buttons installed and maintained would ensure transit officers are alerted not only by the Office of Emergency Management but directly by the manned security booths. This ensures a constant police presence and immediate response to incidents.

The CTA’s public transit unit would coordinate with METRA Police, Amtrak Police, Illinois State Police and university police departments. This would add more law enforcement personnel to public transportation in Chicago. Officers from other departments and agencies would be provided a “police transit pass” to encourage a larger law enforcement presence among riders.

Enhanced police presence should also be supported by the passage of a city nuisance ordinance that ensures there are serious consequences for those who damage public or private property, disrupt the public way, interfere in commerce or harass city residents and travelers. The city needs to exhibit the same vigor in punishing these individuals as it does in going after law-abiding residents and visitors for driving their cars past the city’s red-light and speed cameras or for violating parking rules.

As of 2023, ridership was at a mere 60% of pre-pandemic levels yet the CTA budget grew by 30%. Unfortunately, much of that growth went towards sustaining the CTA’s bureaucracy and not towards improving service. Nearly half of all CTA employees – or 5,154 of 10,588 – work in administration, management and support roles. The CTU can improve its circumstances by both reducing overall personnel costs and increasing the number of transit operators to improve service.

Another solution to save significant money in the long run involves consolidating regional transit agencies. Several polls show a substantial majority of Illinois residents favor combining Metra, Pace, the CTA and the Regional Transit Authority. Earlier this year, state legislators proposed the Metropolitan Mobility Act, which would create a single transit system out of the agencies. There are real savings to be had, operational efficiencies to be gained and public safety to be improved by such consolidations.

Finally, restoring and maintaining ridership requires the CTA to create a commercial environment that draws more people to public transportation. Chicago’s downtown office vacancy rate stands at over 25%, well above the national rate of 19%. The most straightforward way to ensure heightened demand for public transit is by bringing workers and residents back to the city.

Chicago should push development along transportation corridors. Housing can be promoted through looser zoning restrictions, restoration of thousands of vacant residential properties and the use of property tax abatements to spur initial investment plus tax caps on individual properties.

High rents and taxes as well as the deterioration of public safety have also pushed out residents from transit-heavy areas. It’s time to turn that around.