ARTICLE: Merge Metra, Pace, CTA into a mega-agency? CMAP suggests massive changes, but there's pushb

Daily Herald

Rescuing transit from a fiscal free fall could require higher taxes or fees and possibly kneading Metra, Pace and the CTA into one mega-agency, Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning officials said Wednesday.

The three organizations face a combined $730 million annual budget shortfall starting in 2026, when federal COVID-19 funding dries up. In 2022, state lawmakers required CMAP to report on the crisis and offer solutions.

"Be bold. Re-imagine our transportation system. Focus on ensuring the system is financially viable. Make it stronger than it was before COVID-19. Consider equity, climate change and economic growth," is how CMAP Executive Director Erin Aleman described their objectives.
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This proposal won't end well. Hopefully, by 2026 when the bottom falls out, we will be out of the Illinois Dept of Taxation Theft's reach.

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