The people in charge of the CTA are getting millions of dollars in help from the area's other transit agencies ... after a vote designed to keep bus and L service on track despite a looming financial crisis.
All three transit agencies ... CTA, Metra and Pace ... are headed for what's being called a fiscal cliff next year, because federal COVID-19 grants are expiring. And because of how their budgets are set up, the CTA will hit that cliff first.
So, while state lawmakers consider whether to help bail out the agencies, the RTA voted unanimously Thursday afternoon to take $74 million from Metra and Pace and give it to CTA.
This shuffle means CTA riders will not see any change in service for at least two or three months.
But transit leaders say if Springfield doesn't provide more help, and soon, they'll be forced to reduce service across all agencies by as much as 40-percent.
And Board member Tom Kotarec told his colleagues it's time to get specific what that could mean.
"We will never get the urgency level we need for them (state lawmakers) to act until we specifically spell out what bus routes, what train lines are going to go away, how often they won't run," he said. "We've gotta do that planning now - it's not easy. We need to do that planning together."
Lawmakers are set to return to the Capitol to take up a potential transit bailout in October.
