The Official Illinois and Chicago Transportation Thread

[pottebaum]

Sorry to revive a really old thread---but has CTA ridership be on the increase in the last few years? Do you think there will be any major budget problems in the near future, like what we went through in 2004(and early this year)?

[The Urban Politician]

Of course there will be budget issues. That's not going to end in the near future.

The good news is, there are no threats of service cuts for next year.

And overall ridership has been steadily increasing.

Go to www.transitchicago.com

[The Urban Politician]

CTA may seek $2 fare to plug budget gap

By Virginia Groark
Tribune staff reporter
Published October 6, 2005, 4:22 PM CDT


Chicago Transit Authority officials today unveiled a 2006 budget that calls for increasing the base cash fare by 25 cents, to $2 per ride.

Speaking at a midday news conference at CTA headquarters, CTA President Frank Kruesi said the fare hike generating $17 million in revenues, the transfer of $29 million from the agency's capital to operating fund and other measures are necessary to eliminate a $49 million shortfall and balance the budget.

The situation could become even more dire if the Illinois General Assembly fails to approve a $54.3 million bailout similar to the one it passed earlier this year.

"This problem is a marathon, not a sprint," Kruesi said. "We are not at the finish line, but we are closer than we have ever been."

Specifically, the fare hike would apply only to riders who pay cash or use Transit Cards.

Those paying cash also no longer would be able to purchase transfers.

Fares would not go up for customers using Chicago Cards, and transfers would still be available to them for 25 cents additional, Kruesi said. Fares also would remain unchanged for passes, such as 7-day and 30-day passes.

The $5 purchase fee for Chicago Card and Chicago Card Plus buyers will be waived from Dec. 1, 2005, through March 31, 2006, to encourage people to obtain the cards, Kruesi said.

To avert service cuts, Kruesi said he has reluctantly agreed with a Regional Transportation Authority recommendation to use capital funds on operating costs. Still, he said, "I think this practice is bad public policy."

Pending capital projects include renovations of the CTA Brown Line and of the Howard Street elevated station on the Red and Purple lines.

The RTA exercises fiscal authority over the CTA and the Metra commuter rail and Pace suburban bus systems.

The CTA is proposing a $1.037 billion operating budget, an increase of 4.1 percent or $40.6 million over last year.

Kruesi blamed skyrocketing fuel costs for much of the budget pinch. In 1999, he said, the CTA spent $12.5 million, 1.5 percent of its budget, on fuel. Next year, fuel is expected to cost $48 million, or 4.6 percent of the budget. Health care, claims and litigated expenses costs also are rising, he said.

The shortfall predicted today exceeded by $19 million last month's preliminary estimate of $30 million, but is far better than the $90 million gap CTA financial planners started with, Kruesi said.

Kruesi also said the sometimes strained relationship between the CTA, RTA and its sister service boards is different than this time last year.

RTA Chairman James Reilly and its recently appointed executive director, Stephen Schlickman, as well as Metra and Pace officials, recognize the funding formula for transit is not meeting the needs of the system, he said.

"There is a new spirit of cooperation in the region," Kruesi said, noting that cooperation was why he agreed to dip into capital funds to cover operating expenses. He had adamantly opposed doing so for the 2005 budget.

In another instance of cooperation, the CTA next year would be willing to split equally with Pace the anticipated $54.3 million from the state legislature to cover the two agencies' paratransit costs, officials said.

The 2006 budget season kicked off Sept. 15 with the RTA's announcement of how much money it planned to give next year to its three service boards – the CTA, Metra and Pace. The RTA also set goals for how much of each agency's operating costs must be covered by fare revenues.

The service boards are using those numbers to plan their budgets, which the RTA will vote on in December.

RTA officials said they expected to provide 3.2 percent more in funding to the service boards in 2006 than this year. But with fuel costs rising, especially in the wake of the recent Gulf Coast hurricanes that hammered the nation's key energy-producing region, the transit agencies still faced tough budgeting decisions.

[chrishung]

Originally Posted by The Urban Politician

Of course there will be budget issues. That's not going to end in the near future.

The good news is, there are no threats of service cuts for next year.

And overall ridership has been steadily increasing.

Go to www.transitchicago.com

That is some good news indeed. I don't care if its going to be increased to $2. As long as there's no service cut and trains come at regular intervals, I'll be happy to support CTA.

[ChicagoLover]

^ With regard to the fuel costs, I wondered how many of the CTA buses are electric?

[pottebaum]

Hmm---I hope any fare increase won't hurt ridership. If that's the best option, though, go for it. I'd rather see that than any major service cuts. The biggest bummer is not being able to buy transfers when you pay with cash or with the tranist card.....

[Chicago Shawn]

Originally Posted by ChicagoLover

^ With regard to the fuel costs, I wondered how many of the CTA buses are electric?

None. There was an experiment a couple of years ago running hydrogen fuel cell buses, but I have no idea what happened with that, or the results. I believe the CTA uses a bio-desiel blend (ethanol blended desiel fuel) for its non-revenue vehicles like work trucks.

[Azn_chi_boi]

Originally Posted by pottebaum

The biggest bummer is not being able to buy transfers when you pay with cash or with the tranist card.....

That would be a total nightmare... lets hope, that won't happen.

[ChicagoLover]

From Monday's edition of Crain's:

CTA car pact to top $1 bil.
Bombardier, Alstom, Kawasaki bid for agency's richest plum

October 10, 2005
By Greg Hinz

The cash-strapped Chicago Transit Authority is moving forward with plans to spend more than $1 billion on new railcars, its richest contract award ever.

Agency officials are reviewing bids from three international firms, at least two of which have retained a posse of politically connected consultants, lawyers and public relations experts to help them win the right to build more than 700 train cars for the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA).

Sources close to the process say Alstom Transportation Inc., a division of French engineering giant Alstom S.A.; Bombardier Inc., the Montreal-based aircraft and railcar manufacturer; and Kawasaki Rail Car Inc., a subsidiary of Japanese transportation company Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd., all submitted proposals by the Sept. 15 bidding deadline.

CTA officials are declining all comment on who or even how many companies have bid. The agency's only previous public reference to the railcar purchase came in a January press release indicating it would place an order for 206 cars, with options for 500 more. Deliveries would begin in 2008.

With New York City's transit agency recently agreeing to pay about $1.5 million per car, the CTA's total price could be well over $1 billion. The 2006 budget that CTA President Frank Kruesi unveiled last week envisions spending $1.25 billion to purchase railcars, but does not specify when. Sources say a decision is expected late this year or early next.

Few would question the CTA's need for new rolling stock. Some of its 1,190 cars are 36 years old.

But some wonder if the CTA can afford such a big order. The CTA is digging into its capital budget to cover operating costs for 2006, and wants to hike cash fares 14% to $2. The largest previous CTA contract was about $400 million, for reconstruction of the Blue Line.

Though the agency will get about $300 million a year in capital funds under the new multiyear federal transportation bill, it has many needs and currently lacks $75 million in state matching funds needed to secure the federal grants. The CTA took initial steps two years ago to make a big car purchase, but backed off under financial pressure.

But CTA officials have argued that the agency needs to aim high in a procurement process that can stretch for many years. "We need the cars and we're confident that the money will be in place when we need it," the CTA spokeswoman said.

Agency officials add that they can get a better price on cars if they dangle the prospect of a big order, even if the big order is only a series of options. And they say the CTA hopes to get extra money for cars as part of plans to add new el lines.

David Schulz, director of the Infrastructure Technology Institute at Northwestern University, said the CTA may need extra money from Congress to pay for all the cars. But "They won't get anything if they don't try," he added, suggesting that CTA officials are right to think of expanding rather than paring back operations.

The would-be contractors are pulling out all stops to land the pact, retaining as local representatives former CTA and city officials.

Though none of the advisers technically is working as a lobbyist, all know their way around Chicago government. "Chicago is a difficult place to come into if you don't know who anybody is," says Avis LaVelle, former press secretary to Mayor Richard M. Daley, who's handling public relations for Bombardier.

[spyguy]

Although I'm hopeful that the new trainsets will be hella cool, I'm a little worried that they're going to make such a huge order right now. There is no question that they need new trainsets, but the purchase could be broken down a bit.

Here's to hoping for respectable trainsets in 2008

[pottebaum]

^I'm excited about this! Especially this:

Originally Posted by above article

Agency officials add that they can get a better price on cars if they dangle the prospect of a big order, even if the big order is only a series of options. And they say the CTA hopes to get extra money for cars as part of plans to add new el lines.

[nomarandlee]

Looking at other cities trainsets in the world what other cities trainsets would you most like to see for Chicago to emulate?

[pottebaum]

Hmmm... I don't know. Something like New York's trains would probably work the best.

[spyguy]

Is there some kind of weight restriction on the trainsets in America, the result being the "aluminum can" design? I really hope they can manage to get much sleeker train sets with curved outsides, with the insides being a little bit more updated with added technology.

[nomarandlee]

I would LOVE to get some like Madrids trainsets. Those things are sleek!!! However I have no idea if something of that form would be compatiable with Chicago rails.

I like the Metalic look of Chicago/Toronto/New York but I also kind of like the cut look of DC/San Fran as well. I wouldn't want white train sets though.

[aion26]

I read this as one would not be able to buy transfers if paying cash or with those little cards you buy out of the machines, but transfers would be available if you used the plus card ... if they did away with all transfers, period, then they are idiots.

[spyguy]

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/...s-metra21.html

Restrooms worth a mint at Metra stop
November 21, 2005
BY MARK J. KONKOL Transportation Reporter


Once an unfinished basement of a train station, Metra's made-over Randolph Street stop just got a bit bourgeois -- at least in the bathrooms.

That's where bow-tie wearing attendants greet travelers with all the courtesy of their counterparts tending to restrooms in upscale eateries and hip nightspots.

The station's bathroom butlers aren't dolling out cigarettes, hot towels and cologne, but riders are offered a mint as a sort of public-toilet parting gift.

It's an attempt at ridding Randolph Street of its reputation as a dingy dump of a depot. Beitler Co., which has a 20-year contract to manage the station, has plans to fill the depot -- soon to be dubbed Millennium Park Station -- with a dozen new shops.

"It adds something special to the station and commuters. We want riders to feel like someone is taking care of them," Beitler spokeswoman Sheryl Rothschild said. "It's something we see in other countries."

Folks say they appreciate the service, which Rothschild says will be a permanent bathroom fixture.

"A public toilet like that, always clean with attendants there, it's the best," said Allen Gilmore of Hyde Park.

Retail stores recruited

Attendant Angelica Segovia says she can tell riders are sometimes surprised to see her perched on a stool at the bathroom door, but the regulars are getting used to it.

"They take a mint. They say they never see [a station bathroom] like this," Segovia said.

For Dee Smiddy, a tourist from Indiana who came in on the South Shore Line, the train station bathroom attendant experience was "very weird."

"It's not a place you'd expect [bathroom attendants] like a restaurant," she said. "But maybe it won't be so bad once they finish getting stores in here."

Rothschild said Beitler is already recruiting retail stores, and two companies -- which she wouldn't identify -- have signed "letters of intent" to open up shop at the station.

Peter Sedrak of Merrillville, Ind., said they're off to a good start. The clean sinks, extra attention and complimentary mints make his commute just a little bit better.

"It's pretty cool, totally different," he said of the bathroom attendants. "And look, [the mint wrapper] even says, 'Thank You.' Only in Chicago."

[Azn_chi_boi]

Originally Posted by aion26

I read this as one would not be able to buy transfers if paying cash or with those little cards you buy out of the machines, but transfers would be available if you used the plus card ... if they did away with all transfers, period, then they are idiots.

I know! Starting 1/1/05!

I don't know the full details, so if someone kno about it, please tell us.

[XCRunner]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

^ but goon, you can't really blame this nation's automobile fetish on the CTA. even if we built 20,000 miles of subway lines in chicagoland, there will always be a higher percentage of people who will refuse to use such a system in this country than elsewhere in the world. so many americans just utterly detest the very notion of public transit, or at best they think public transit is ok for other people, but they have god-given right to be able to conveninetly drive and park where ever they so wish.

america's PT systems suck because an alarming percentage of american people suck.

Thankyou! I wish the CTA were more extensive, but how many more people would use it, really? It's part of our culture (I'm not saying it's a good part) to drive everywhere we can.

[pottebaum]

Do you guys think the CTA would have higher ridership if the bus lines were better connected to the rail stations?