Chicago Transit budget crisis could eliminate half of all bus routes, strand commuters

[marmar]

from the Chicago Trib, via MassTransitMag:



CTA Bus Crisis Gets Bleaker: Half of All Routes on Chopping Block


Jon Hilkevitch, Chicago Tribune


With its budget deficit growing, the CTA moved Friday to eliminate more than half of its bus routes by early January, threatening to strand tens of thousands of daily commuters and worsen gridlock across the Chicago area.

The new plan, while living up to its label as a "doomsday" budget, would also sharply boost fares and employee layoffs beyond those already set to take effect next month -- if the legislature does not approve new funding soon to fill a projected $158 million deficit for 2008.

But transit supporters said the severity of the cuts may finally be the impetus for the state's legislative leaders and governor to end months of bickering over the transit crisis.

The stakes have been raised simply too high for an area already suffering terribly from traffic gridlock to allow the dismantling of the CTA, the transit backers argue.

"This will help focus attention on how bad things are," said state Sen. John Cullerton (D-Chicago), the Senate sponsor of legislation to increase the sales tax earmarked for Chicago-area mass transit. "My prediction is that we are going to come back very close to the first doomsday deadline in November when there won't be a lot of time to negotiate and pass a transit bill."

The new round of CTA cuts, coming at the same time that the suburban bus agency Pace is scaling back to erase its own deficit, shrinks the number of locations in Chicago or the suburbs where commuters would still have access to public transportation.

The CTA's service cuts, fare hikes and layoffs totaling 2,436 employees would likely hasten the breakdown of its already crumbling system, if the stalemate in the General Assembly continues over increasing operating subsidies to the CTA, Pace and Metra.

'Can't get to work'

"The whole grid falls apart," CTA President Ron Huberman warned as he announced the elimination of 43 bus routes starting Jan. 6, on top of the 39 bus routes that would be slashed Nov. 4. That represents more than half of the current 154 bus routes. .....(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.masstransitmag.com/online/article.jsp?siteSection=3&id=4578