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Service Cuts Delayed Untill November 4th

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Service Cuts Delayed Untill November 4th

  by JamesT4
 
Doomesday not happening at least for now.
CTA accepts short-term funding fix

By Jon Hilkevitch | Tribune transportation reporter
3:19 PM CDT, September 12, 2007

The CTA's top officials this afternoon accepted a $24 million funding advance proposed by Gov. Rod Blagojevich to avert fare increases and service cuts set to take effect Sunday and Monday, but the agency's doomsday scenario will still take place in November unless new funds are obtained.

CTA Board Chairman Carole Brown announced the short-term solution after meeting in Blagojevich's Chicago office to discuss funding proposals. Before taking effect, the move needs to be green-lighted by the RTA in a meeting scheduled for Friday.

Brown said the plan will "give the legislature more time to craft a long-term funding solution for the region."

Blagojevich's offer did not involve new funds. Instead, the move would accelerate state payments scheduled for the CTA in 2008, allowing the agency to maintain service for the time being.

Even if the RTA approves the proposal, the CTA will have to start making cuts Nov. 4.

The CTA announced plans last month to raise fares Sunday and eliminate 39 bus routes Monday unless new state funding is approved to help the transit agency balance its 2007 budget.

CTA President Ron Huberman has said the contingency plan must go forward in the absence of new funding to help shore up a $110 million CTA budget deficit. Any delay, coupled with a failure to secure additional state subsidies, would render the CTA unable to meet its December payroll and force a systemwide shutdown, Huberman said.

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Last edited by JamesT4 on Mon Oct 29, 2007 7:45 am, edited 1 time in total.

  by JamesT4
 
CTA Statement on Postponing Service Reductions and Fare Increases


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9/14/07
CTA will postpone the elimination of 39 bus routes, fare increases and layoffs of more than 600 employees originally planned for Sunday, September 16. Earlier today the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) – the financial oversight agency for CTA, Metra and Pace – approved the proposal made by Governor Blagojevich to provide CTA with an advance of $24 million of the agency’s 2008 subsidy for reduced fares. The advance of funds will allow CTA to postpone the service reductions and fare increases until Sunday, November 4. This temporary solution will spare riders from reduced bus service and higher fares, while allowing additional time for the state legislature to reach agreement on a long-term solution for the chronic insufficient funding issues faced by CTA, Metra and Pace.

  by doepack
 
You know, I sort of have mixed feelings about this last minute bailout. Granted, it's only a reprieve, and I'm glad the buses and trains will continue to run on current levels of service for at least the next six weeks, but the seriousness of the funding situation won't hit home until "doomsday" actually happens. Sooner or later, it becomes easy to take for granted that there'll be some 11th hour solution, or bailout to keep everything running. Personally, I know that RTA's funding forumla for the three agencies needs to be revised, but this is nothing new; the current formula has been outdated for at least a decade, which is part of the reason why the RTA can't stay properly funded. And as such, we've lived with the ongoing threat of service cuts and fare increases; yet it either doesn't happen, or is not nearly as drastic as originally forecast. So again, for all the times the RTA has cried wolf before, it's starting to become difficult to really take seriously...

  by F40CFan
 
I think before they get any more money, independent auditors should be brought in to look for waste. To keep them honest, the only fee they would be given would be 10% of the waste and excess they found.

After that, they should be turned loose on the City of Chicago, C(r)ook County and the State of Illinois.
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