CHICAGO (WLS) — Public transportation in Chicago is in jeopardy, if a $770 million budget shortfall isn’t solved, the Regional Transportation Authority said Friday.
The RTA said at least four of eight CTA train lines would be reduced or eliminated next year, and services on Metra and Pace could also be slashed.
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CTA would go from one of the largest transit systems in the country to having fewer bus routes than Madison, Wisconsin and Kansas City, a news release from RTA said.
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Metra would have a 40 percent reduction in service, the RTA said. Early morning and late evening trains would be eliminated, weekday trains would run only once per hour and weekend trains just once every two hours, officials said.
Transit-dependent suburban riders using Pace would be among the hardest hit, RTA said. All weekend bus service could be eliminated.
The service cuts would also come with massive job and economic losses, the RTA said.
“None of us want a future where transit cuts mean a nurse can’t reach their patients or a warehouse worker in Joliet can’t afford to get to their job,” RTA Board Chairman Kirk Dillard said in a statement. “Public transit is an economic necessity. If these cuts happen, Illinois’ entire economy will suffer.”
The RTA is calling on the state legislature to approve funding.
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