Board Wants Delay On Fair Hikes

Bob Roberts Reporting

CHICAGO (WBBM) -- Gov. Rod Blagojevich's newest appointee to the CTA's governing Transit Board broke ranks in her first day on the job over the subject of fare hikes.

WBBM's Bob Roberts Reports.

Former Deputy Gov. Sheila Nix's first comment as a board member urged the board to delay the fare increase proposed Thursday, and essentially make a bet that the economy, fuel and materials prices and tax revenues will improve in the next few months.

"Find a way to avoid a fare increase this year," Nix said. "Get to the point where we could allow the real estate transfer tax revenue to begin coming in, maybe the sales tax increase comes in, maybe with the federal bailout we'll be back in a situation where things are better."

Nix also suggested that the CTA borrow the money needed to close its budget hole, estimated at $42.2 million.

CTA Chair Carole Brown told Nix that would be both illegal and irresponsible and could come back to haunt riders.

"We have to make sure that this agency manages fiscally responsibly so that we don't have to double the pain or triple the pain for our riders next year or the following year," Brown said.

Blagojevich last last month replaced board member Nicholas Zagotta, whose term had expired, with Nix. The governor has the right to make three appointments to the seven-member board.

Several low-income riders and job agency representatives also urged the board to find some alternative.

Fares are expected to increase 25 cents for those who pay by the ride. Those who use passes will pay a heavier burden.

The increases would be the first in more than a decade for pass users.

If approved, the one-day pass will increase in price by $1 to $6; the seven-day pass will increase by $4 to $24. And the price of CTA's most popular pass, its 30-day pass, will increase by $15 to $90.

To close a $42.2 million spending gap created by higher fuel, power and materials costs, far lower-than-anticipated tax revenues and the free riders programs mandated by Blagojevich and the Chicago City Council, the CTA also expects to lay off nearly 600 employees as part of its $1.324 billion budget plan.

The budget proposal represents a $115 million increase over 2008.

CTA President Ron Huberman again warned that a third of those employees must be reinstated on the payroll within the next year to maintain the safety of the 'L' structure, but said the agency cannot afford to keep them so long as a deadlock remains in Springfield on capital infrastructure funding.

The free rides programs alone are expected to cost CTA $35.8 million in 2009, with $26.5 million of that cost going toward free riders for seniors.

The budget anticipates $16 million in reimbursement for the cost of providing reduced-fare or free rides to seniors, students and other riders. Blagojevich vetoed the long-standing subsidy this summer as part of an effort to reduce the state's budget imbalance.

Huberman said it made no sense to cut service at a time when the CTA has recorded its highest rapid transit ridership since 1967 and highest bus ridership since 1994. But he said the uncertainty about fuel prices is a two-edged sword, because the high prices that drive riders to the CTA also affect the CTA's own bottom line.

In addition to the layoffs, a casualty of CTA's belt-tightening will be the 10 percent bonus riders have received until now for using the Chicago Card and its sister smart card, the Chicago Card Plus.

Huberman said the bonus was intended to attract riders to the smart cards, and said that goal has been accomplished.

He does not foresee them losing popularity once the bonus ends Jan. 1.

Not everyone will pay more. Elementary and high school students, and those seniors who still have to pay to ride, won't see any increase. Their fare stays at 85 cents with a fare card, and $1 for those who pay cash. The reduced-fare 30-day pass remains at $35. Huberman said students and the elderly are often the ones who can least afford to pay more.

CTA will begin notifying those employees targeted by the layoffs Oct. 26.

The transit agency remains in the unusual position of hiring in some areas and laying off in others. In order to handle the additional passenger loads, Huberman said CTA has hired 754 bus and 'L' operators since March to try to minimize overtime and hit the "sweet spot" in terms of operating costs.

He said those employees, and the employees responsible for cleaning 'L' trains and buses, will not be affected by the layoffs.

Areas hit by the layoffs, and paid out of the CTA operating budget, include maintenance, in which 98 employees will be laid off, and inventory, in which 35 employees are to be pink-slipped. Huberman said he expects those layoffs to be permanent.

He said the future of the 236 employees paid from the capital budget depends on the Springfield infrastructure negotiations. Those employees he hopes to reinstate.

The budget is subject to approval by the CTA's governing Transit Board and the Regional Transportation Authority. State law requires a balanced budget. A public hearing is scheduled on the budget at 6 p.m. Oct. 29 at CTA headquarters, 567 W. Lake St.

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