Recent Streetsblog CHICAGO posts about RTA

No Surprise: International Report Says Region’s Transit Not Up to Par

By Steven Vance | Oct 6, 2014 | 27 Comments

Last month, a report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development validated what Chicago researchers, a task force convened by the governor, and millions of customers have all said for years: Transit in Chicagoland is fragmented, inefficient, and far from adequate to serve the region’s transportation needs. The OECD, a “club of rich countries” that counts the […]

Metra Says It Already Welcomes Ventra (No, Not Really)

By Steven Vance | Sep 25, 2014 | 48 Comments

Even though Metra never plans to accept Ventra transit cards for payment aboard its trains, the commuter railroad now claims that it has accepted Ventra all along – and thus already fulfilled a state mandate to adopt Ventra by 2015. Metra spokesperson Michael Gillis told Streetsblog that “we can already accept” Ventra cards, but only in the […]

CMAP Plan Update Includes Sobering Look at Region’s Funding Shortfall

By Steven Vance | Jun 17, 2014 | 2 Comments

The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning’s GO TO 2040 regional comprehensive plan has weathered some major ups and downs in its four-year lifespan. CMAP has received several awards for the plan, which required a huge effort on their part to reach out to local residents and overwrite decades of uncoordinated transportation “plans.” Last year, though, the […]

Bus to Zipcar to Divvy? RideScout App Makes Connecting A Bit Easier

By Steven Vance | May 27, 2014 | 4 Comments

The number of transportation choices available to Chicagoans continues to grow, particularly as shared options like car-sharing and Divvy bikes become ever more popular. Yet these options can turn the simple act of planning a trip across town into a complicated exercise that requires weighing multiple factors, like cost, convenience, time, and ever-changing availability. RideScout, […]

Today’s Headlines

By Payton Chung | Apr 8, 2014 | No Comments

NTSB Reports on O’Hare Blue Line Crash Causes, $9.1 Million Damages (ABC/AP, DNA) RTA Chairman Criticizes Quinn’s Transit Task Force, Asks for $5 Billion in Bonds (Sun-Times) CTA Re-Assesses Detours Around Blue Line, Will Post Larger Signs (RedEye) Hit-and-Run Driver Critically Injures Bicyclist in Evanston; Driver Caught (EvanstonNow) Cook County Population Booming, Like Other Metropolitan Cores (MPC) […]

Regional Transit Needs New Funding to Meet $20 Billion Backlog

By Steven Vance | Apr 2, 2014 | 3 Comments

Transit systems in Northeastern Illinois face a $20 billion maintenance backlog. Now the question is how to pay for it. Governor Pat Quinn’s Northeastern Illinois transit task force has shown some of the possibilities at the region’s disposal, but hasn’t staked out a position on how to secure the necessary revenue to keep Chicagoland’s track, […]

A Clearer, More Concise Regional Transit Proposal From Senator Biss

By Steven Vance | Mar 20, 2014 | 23 Comments

At least one Illinois legislator supports a unified transit agency, even though RTA board chairman John Gates and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel have declared their opposition. Senator Daniel Biss (D-9th, Evanston, Glenview) published a proposal [PDF] back in November, saying “the CTA, Metra, and Pace should combine into a single new Regional Transit Authority.” That was […]

Emanuel, CTA President Come Out Against Unified Regional Transit Agency

By Steven Vance | Mar 18, 2014 | 21 Comments

The transit task force Governor Pat Quinn convened last year after the Metra governance scandal continues to discuss the merits of a single transit authority to replace the Regional Transportation Authority and absorb Chicago Transit Authority, Metra, and Pace. Count Mayor Rahm Emanuel and CTA President Forrest Claypool among the opponents of that idea. Emanuel […]

More State Control Over Chicagoland Transit Is a Bad Idea

By Steven Vance | Mar 13, 2014 | 33 Comments

On Tuesday, the Northeastern Public Transit Task Force, created after former Metra CEO Alex Clifford’s abrupt resignation and the ensuing severance package scandal last summer, issued four different options for restructuring regional transit governance [PDF]. While there’s a lot of variation among the four options, they would all hand more power to the governor. This is […]

RTA Downplays Effect of Service Cuts and Fare Hikes on Stagnant Ridership

By Steven Vance | Feb 28, 2014 | 34 Comments

In a new report [PDF], the Regional Transportation Authority blames weak ridership growth from 2008 to 2012 primarily on economic factors, glossing over the impact of fare hikes and service cuts. During the period covered by the report, CTA ridership grew 3.7 percent, while Metra ridership and Pace ridership each shrank by 6.3 percent. With every CTA […]

How Can Chicagoland Fix Its Regional Transit System?

By John Greenfield | Dec 5, 2013 | 56 Comments

In the wake of the recent Metra patronage scandal, the Regional Transit Authority has come under intense scrutiny. Many journalists, elected officials and policy experts have argued that the current system of separate boards for the CTA, Metra and Pace, overseen by the RTA, lends itself to interagency competition and corruption that gets in the […]

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