Lake County officials discuss the challenges of public transportation during townhall meeting

Chicago Tribune

8 hours ago

Hours before the 104th Illinois General Assembly adjourned its initial session May 31 by law, the State Senate voted 32-22 for legislation creating the Northern Illinois Transit Authority (NITA) to help avoid a $771 million fiscal cliff facing public transportation in northeastern Illinois.
With little time remaining in the session, the Illinois House of Representatives was unable to consider the Senate-amended version of the bill, postponing a final vote and elimination of the fiscal cliff until the legislature's veto session in October.
Along with helping public transportation keep running in Chicagoland at its current level without reducing service or cutting jobs, the NITA bill provides for a variety of improvements to meet the needs of at least the next two decades.
When the coronavirus pandemic shuttered much of the economy in March 2020, state Sen. Adriane Johnson, D-Buffalo Grove, said federal funding helped offset the nosedive in revenue to public transportation.
When the money runs out at the end of the year, Johnson said Metra, Pace, the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), and the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) will be $771 million short of what they need to operate, leading to decreased service and jobs.
State Sen. Ram Vallivalam, D-Chicago, chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, said keeping public transportation as it is is insufficient for the needs. As he and others went to work on the bill, it became a $1.5 billion package taking the public transit two decades into the future.
'We have a robust public transportation system that moves one million people every day,' Vallivalam said. 'Every dollar we spend on public transportation brings $13 to the local economy. This is a huge undertaking. This is something we have to do.'
'It has to be accessible, equitable, safe, reliable, and affordable,' added Johnson.
Johnson, Vallivalam, state Sen. Mary Edly-Allen, D-Libertyville, and Lake County Board Chair Sandy Hart, D-Lake Bluff, presented their ideas on the future of public transportation in the Chicago area at a town hall on Monday in Vernon Hills to gather ideas and urge support.
With $200 million earmarked for downstate Illinois, Vallivalam said the rest of the money will be spent on public transportation in Chicago, suburban Cook County, and collar counties Lake, McHenry, DuPage, Kane, and Will counties.
Governance of NITA will consist of a 20-person board with five people from collar counties, five from suburban Cook County, five from Chicago, and five from the state. Vallivalam said it is structured to avoid dominance of any area. The current organizations will remain.
Part of the funding package includes a $1.50 home delivery fee for goods purchased online and delivered to an individual's home. Vallivalam said legislation must include revenue sources, but he and his colleagues are open to suggestions from state House members.
Finding ways to better coordinate bus and train schedules in Lake County is important. Vallivalam said waiting a long time is not helpful to people getting to and from work, especially when traveling between distant suburbs and the city.
'We don't want the last Pace bus to arrive at the Metra station after the last train has left for Chicago,' Vallivalam said.
Some things that changed during the pandemic have remained because of the way people work. Vallivalam said Metra ridership has returned midweek but not on Mondays and Fridays. Working remotely on Mondays and Fridays is becoming the norm for some.
Not everyone can use an automobile to travel where they need or want to go. Johnson said public transportation is an economic necessity for some, and they need to be accommodated by public transit.
All four public officials urged people at the town hall to talk to their state representative and let them know their ideas about public transportation. When they return to Springfield, they want to be in a position to send the bill to Gov. J.B. Pritzker's desk. Vallivalam said he is confident.
'I do believe we're 99% there,' Vallivalam said. 'We have done the heavy negotiating. You need to inform your (state representatives) now because the opponents of this bill are doing that. We don't want to go off the cliff.'