Chicago Transit budget crisis and disability
By Dan Rodriguez Schlorff and Alex Briscoe
Illinois Green Party

On October 5, the Chicago Tribune reported that the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) needed to double its fare for disabled individuals. Ten days later, CTA President Frank Kruesi announced that his agency would not increase its fares for disabled passengers. The newly revised budget, however, indicates that the CTA plans to continue with its proposed fare increases and to cut spending if the state legislature fails to increase funding for Chicago's transportation system by July 17.

The CTA will cut spending by reducing its service by 36 percent, completely eliminating 54 bus routes and laying off approximately 2,000 CTA employees.

After a modest fare increase in 2003, the CTA turns again to its passengers for increased funding, pending the mid-July decision of the state legislature. Besides service cuts, CTA passengers anticipate a 25¢ fare increase and the elimination of free and reduced transfers. The transfers served as an incentive for Chicagoans to ride public transportation and made transportation affordable for workers who live far away from their jobs.

Disabled passengers targeted

The same fare increase the Chicago Tribune reported in October resurfaces in the CTA budget for 2005. In a twist of logic that seems to validate the claims of both the Chicago Tribune and Kruesi, the budget leaves room for ambiguity. It divides disabled passengers into two categories: mainstream and paratransit riders.

The mainstream transport system includes a number of special "kneeling" buses that lower for easier curb access. Such improvements have made mainstream transit easier to use for passengers with strollers, grocery carts and crutches. Some buses are outfitted with wheelchair lifts, but passengers in wheelchairs rarely utilize these lifts due to infrequent service.

Paratransit services include taxi-like vehicles and special vans that are equipped to serve passengers with severe disabilities. When such vehicles are unavailable, the CTA procures the service of private transportation agencies. CTA reports that the cost for these paratransit services is "spiraling out of control." CTA reports that paratransit cost $27.2 million when the programs started in 1999 and now costs $48.8 million annually.
Chicago transit in perspective

Greens in Chicago attribute these fare increases and budget cuts to unhealthy budgeting. CTA projects that its total operating costs for 2005 will reach $936.2 million. The City of Chicago spends $3 million per year on its public transit system, which does not even cover the $4 million annual cost of vandalism to CTA property. In comparison, San Francisco, a relatively small city, contributes $60 million to its transit system, and New York City provides $217 million. The CTA relies instead on passenger fare for over 50 percent of its operating costs. The agency also relies heavily on downstate taxpayers who receive no direct benefit from Chicago's transportation system-not to mention the request for more state funding by July 17.

In the midst of its budget crisis, the CTA has unveiled its plan to build an extravagant "Super Station" and to augment its railway by adding a "Circle Line." The Super Station alone will cost the CTA at least $213 million. Many Chicagoans, including Chicago Greens, feel that the CTA is pushing spending cuts at the expense of services.

Green action

Chicago Greens have urged the CTA to improve service, decrease fares and increase innovative pricing incentives to win riders back to public transit. Greens continue to demand more public hearings, to include the city's aldermen and other elected officials, in order to hold the CTA accountable to its riders.

Chicago Greens also work collaboratively with other groups to help prevent further cuts and the creation of new expenses for transit service. The Green Alliance of Cook County, for example, offers printing services to two politically diverse coalitions, the Chicago Transit Coalition and Midwest Unrest.

Greens in Chicago recognize the potential of public transportation to solve urban problems such as congestion of major thoroughfares and pollution. They work with other community organizations to help make public transportation more affordable and universally accessible.

More information is available at the following sites:

www.transitchicago.com/downloads/budget/2005sum.pdf,
www.midwestunrest.net/farestrike, 
www.bettertransit.com,
www.chicagotransitcoalition.net.

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