Daily Herald
June 19, 2007

Metra and Pace last week joined the CTA in declaring that service cuts and fare hikes lie ahead if state lawmakers fail to send more operating money their way.

Idle threats from the usual suspects? Not likely. The three service agencies of the Regional Transportation Authority might not cut as deeply as they say if Springfield doesn’t authorize more money for their operating expenses. And if they do raise fares, well, that should be part of the equation anyway.

But if legislators do not OK increased operating funds, the agencies will have to reduce service to some extent. Precisely that conclusion came this spring from the most credible of sources: state Auditor General William Holland.

Holland traced financial problems in part to mismanagement, which lawmakers must address as a condition for any new money. But he also concluded that the agencies would need more money even if they were operating at peak efficiency. The financial arrangements that lawmakers put into place nearly 25 years ago are no longer sufficient to meet the RTA agencies’ needs as they struggle to keep pace with escalating costs of providing service.

State Rep. Julie Hamos, an Evanston Democrat, has proposed raising operating funds through a ˜-cent increase in the sales tax and a real estate transfer tax in Chicago. An extra ˜-cent sales tax hike in the collar counties would generate money that each county could spend on road projects as it sees fit. While that provision means Hamos’ proposal is not a pure transit bill, it also offers suburban legislators political cover to vote “yes” and offers up road funds that each county could put to good use.  None of this is remotely palatable without several conditions and protections, which Hamos has in place to one degree or another.

First, lawmakers would be remiss to authorize another dime unless financial and accountability reforms are part of the deal. Hamos’ bill would trim CTA employees’ pension and benefits. Better yet would be new CTA chief Ron Huberman’s suggestion that new workers be put into 401(k) plans instead of defined-benefit pensions. Structural changes also are in the works that would give the RTA stronger oversight authority of the service agencies and more leverage to make each agency accountable, more leverage to insist, for instance, that the CTA curb its costly absenteeism. This is a must.

Second, legislators must insist on fare increases. Holland’s audit indicated that among the three agencies, only Pace has upped fares to keep pace with inflation in recent years.

Finally, while logic would suggest tying transit funds to a motor fuel tax, the state has long since chosen the sales tax route.  Any additional hike in the sales tax is not ideal, but the needs of Chicago-area transit — vital to preventing highway congestion from getting even worse and curbing carbon emissions — are legitimate.

While the Hamos bill is imperfect and can be backed only with the aforementioned caveats, among others, it is a good-faith effort to roll needed reforms and money into one measure. It definitely beats one alternative lurking in Springfield: a governor backed bailout of the CTA alone — an objectionable move that could effectively delay needed legislative aid for Metra and Pace, both of which have been better managed than the CTA.

RTA officials also want a capital infusion of up to $10 billion. It’s all but impossible to fathom this request going anywhere this legislative session, and it’s hard to back it unless capital is also forthcoming for school construction and roads. Still, legislators will need to come up with transit capital relatively soon. Metra, in particular, needs large sums if it is to proceed with such important projects as the STAR line, which would facilitate suburb-to-suburb rail commuting. If recent years have shown anything, it is that suburban commuters will flock to new or extended Metra lines.

While insisting on reforms and accountability, legislators also face something of a pay-now-or-pay-later situation. They can’t take care of all RTA’s needs at once. But it’s time to start.