NITA, Chicago’s new transit agency, is meeting for the first time. What will it change?

The Northern Illinois Transit Authority’s board meets for the first time Thursday, officially launching the agency tasked with transforming Chicago-area public transit.

NITA replaces the Regional Transportation Authority, which had governed CTA, Metra and Pace since 1974.

The reshaping of public transit began last year when lawmakers passed the NITA bill overnight on Halloween. It was a last-minute, $1.5 billion bailout to save the agencies from service cuts. The NITA law also restructured transit governance, aiming to elevate CTA, Metra and Pace into world-class services.

Here’s what you need to know about NITA:

What will NITA do?

NITA has several requirements and a timeline to complete them.

Here’s what the agency must do:

• “Unify” fares by 2030. This will eliminate needing to buy a second ticket at full price to transfer from, say, Metra to CTA.
• Coordinate service. The RTA had limited power to ensure bus and rail service overlapped in a way that made sense. NITA, however, can plan service, bus and rail investments, and set fares.
• Vote next June on whether to create a transit police department. Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart is leading a task force to research the issue. He has said it would be an easy, though costly, option.
• Deploy trained customer service representatives called “transit ambassadors” by July 2027.
• Mandate electric buses. The law prohibits CTA and Pace from buying any new gas-powered buses, with a few exceptions.
• Create a system to develop property near transit hubs. NITA has new powers to buy and sell land to encourage “transit-oriented development,” the idea that walkable property near transit ought to be used for people and business.

Why NITA?

NITA was born out of an impending financial disaster.

Chicago’s transit agencies were headed for a “fiscal cliff.” They predicted 40% cuts to bus and rail service — the result of low ridership, inadequate funding and dwindling pandemic relief grants.

Illinois lawmakers said they could deliver $1.5 billion more each year for transit. But first they demanded reform. Under the RTA system, the CTA, Metra and Pace often competed against each other for riders and funds.

Some lawmakers proposed combining them into a single agency. Others took a cue from a research trip to Munich, Germany. They proposed strengthening Chicago transit’s umbrella organization, the RTA, to control service and make the agencies work together.

The second idea won. Gov. JB Pritzker signed the NITA Act in December.

What has NITA changed already?

NITA, the agency, is new. But the law behind it has already pumped in millions of dollars to transit since it first took effect June 1.

Much of that money has gone to public safety.

One of the RTA’s last acts was directing transit agencies to make security improvements. A public survey revealed it a top priority of riders. Millions of dollars have been spent on increased CTA patrols by Chicago police, sheriff’s deputies and private K9 security.

The money is also improving bus and rail service.

The CTA added bus routes to its Frequent Network, and it’s planning 24-hour Orange Line service to Midway. Metra added trains to some of its southern lines. Pace has also added bus service.

Who’s paying?

New money for transit comes from a couple sources:

• Nearly a half billion dollars comes from a quarter-percent hike in the Chicago region’s RTA sales tax.
• Nearly a billion dollars comes from shifting most of the state’s sales tax on motor fuel to public transit. The money used to go to the state’s Road Fund. To compensate, the NITA law let the Illinois Tollway raise tolls for the first time in over a decade.

Who runs NITA?

The NITA board has 20 directors appointed by the governor, mayor of Chicago, Cook County board president and the five collar counties. Most of those directors serve dual roles on the boards of CTA, Metra and Pace. That reduces the total number of board members from 47, under the RTA, to 33.

NITA has some familiar faces.

Mayor Brandon Johnson appointed CTA chair Lester Barclay to the NITA board. He’s an attorney who has publicly questioned NITA’s increased control of the CTA. Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle chose former RTA director Tom Kotarac for the CTA and NITA boards. Kotarac has been leading a NITA transition committee. Former RTA Chairman Kirk Dillard will not take a NITA board seat.

The NITA system notably shifts power from Johnson. The mayor used to appoint a majority of the CTA’s seven-member board. Under NITA, the mayor picks three.

The NITA board is scheduled Thursday to select a chairman and interim executive director. The board is also set to vote on a system-wide low-income reduced fare program, and to expand the student pass to work year-round.