What Senate leaders learned on summer road trip, as transit mega merger looms

Public transit in Chicago and the suburbs is at a crossroads.

Metra, Pace and the CTA face a $730 million shortfall in 2026, sparked by a COVID-19 ridership drop.

One proposed legislative solution is merging the three into a mega-agency — but that’s opposed by the agencies and Collar Counties.

In pursuit of consensus, the Illinois Senate Transportation Committee has gone on a summer road trip to get riders’ opinions on the future of transit.

Here’s some key issues identified at recent hearings at Elgin Community College and in Naperville.

Transit deserts

“My community of Roselle currently has zero Pace bus stops,” Mayor David Pileski told senators Aug. 9 in Naperville. “Our bus route was cut after the pandemic, leaving many economically disadvantaged residents scrambling to find a way to get to work and many of our elderly isolated.”

Likewise, in sprawling McHenry County, “in terms of fixed bus routes — we have four,” County Board Chair Michael Buehler testified Wednesday in Elgin.

Also, “the transit system does not support the workforce for the end of the second shift, or the beginning of the third shift,” Elgin Community Bikes Executive Director Parker Thompson said.

“Every church bus circling the neighborhoods on Sunday morning is another reminder that the transit system fails to serve us as whole human beings with a complete absence of bus service,” he added.

Poor suburb-to-suburb service

“Right now, our transit system reflects an old design,” DuPage County Board Chair Deb Conroy testified in Naperville. “One that saw commuting as merely bedroom communities serving downtown workplaces.”

“All suburban residents deserve the same level and access to and from Naperville to Rosemont or from Oak Park to the Morton Arboretum in Lisle.”

College of DuPage student Rowan Julian experienced that disconnect trying to get from Wheaton to Batavia to see a friend, a 20-minute car trip. She wanted to use public transit but found it could take up to one hour and 40 minutes.

“For me I felt like I had no choice … so I chose to take my car,” she said.

A power grab?

This spring, Transportation Committee Chairman Ram Villivalam and others sponsored a bill seeking to abolish Metra, Pace, CTA and RTA boards and replace them with a Metropolitan Mobility Authority.

The intent is to create efficiencies and improve service with products such as a universal fare, but Collar County leaders fear a power grab.

There are 47 members on the four transit boards now. The MMA would have 10 directors picked by Chicago and Cook County, five by the Collar Counties and three by the governor. A simple majority of 10 could pass resolutions.

The RTA, which oversees Metra, Pace and the CTA, has 16 members. A supermajority is needed to pass items like budgets.

“Any system of governance that gives outside influence to one region will exacerbate the problems our transit system faces today,” Conroy said.

Under the proposal, McHenry County’s representation would shrink from three board members to one, Buehler said Wednesday.

“McHenry County has so few voices to advocate for us, the loss of any voice … is devastating.”

Plan B?

“I don’t know of another system that has four different agencies with 21 appointing authorities … in the world,” Villivalam remarked in Naperville.

“If the governance system was working so well, we would have the service that we all want — of course the funding has to happen.”

But the Chicago Democrat added, “I want to make sure the Collar Counties have a voice — you have my commitment on that.”

Meanwhile, consolidation isn’t the only game in town — another idea is keeping the agencies but empowering the RTA to call the shots.

Kendall Metra plan resurrected

And since we’re talking about change, how about extending Metra to Kendall County, leaders asked Aug. 9.

It would “provide an economic boost, attract new businesses, and relieve congestion at Naperville and Aurora stations,” county board Vice Chair Scott Gengler said.

But Kendall isn’t part of the RTA and residents don’t pay the RTA sales tax, state Sen. Don DeWitte of St. Charles responded.

On the question of seeking voter approval for joining the RTA, “it’s going to be hard to go to a referendum and go to our constituents and say, ‘We want to join the RTA but the RTA is kind of in a limbo situation,’” Gengler noted.

“I would start having those conversations and plan for all scenarios,” Villivalam added.