CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A dispute over money arose at Wednesday’s Regional Transportation Authority Board meeting. It was over $40 million in federal money that the RTA had planned to give to Metra.
During the RTA board meeting, officials from the CTA and the Pace suburban bus system argued they should be splitting $40 million in American Rescue Plan money rather than it going to Metra.
He also said it’s disheartening that Pace is not able to provide more service. “The second largest city in the state of Illinois, Aurora, bus service ends at 7 p.m. during the week and there is little to no weekend service.”
CTA President Dorval Carter told the RTA that CTA and Pace riders are more reliant on public transit than Metra riders.
“Both Pace and CTA carry customers, a good number of which are viewed as low income, minority, from disadvantaged communities, transit dependent who rely on and need our services to get to their jobs, to health care, to things that are critical to their ongoing existence,” Carter said.
“I don’t think that there’s ever any justification, under any sort of optic that you could create, that would allow one service board to receive more than they’ve identified the need for, notwithstanding the fact that there may be additional expenses we may have in the future, when you have two other service boards who have gaps that have not fulfilled based on remaining need.”
However, Metra executive director Jim Derwinski argued there are a number of reasons Metra deserves the money and needs to increase train frequencies, even when ridership wasn’t yet there.
“I hear from employers downtown that ‘My people would be coming back to the office, but their trains aren’t here.’”
Derwinksi also said Metra is in contract negotiations with employee unions and is planning for a certain amount of pay raises and back pay, as well as being in negotiations with Union Pacific to assume operations on the UP’s three routes and the costs associated with that.
In the end, RTA Chairman Kirk Dillard appointed a committee to come up with a compromise solution that will be presented at another meeting set for Friday.
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