ACTION ALERT: Tell Congress not to increase your transit expenses!

We already know transit fares will be going up for many riders next year. Metra riders will pay 25 percent more to get around our region and CTA fare hikes are still on the table for 2012.

Unfortunately, there's a chance riders may be taking yet another hit. If Congress doesn't act this month, you may be paying even more for transit next year!

Right now transit riders and drivers can pay their fares and parking expenses with pre-tax dollars out of their paycheck -- up to $230 per month. Transit riders receive this commuter benefit through their employers and can save more than $1,000 each year on their transit expenses (if you're not already getting this benefit, encourage your employer to sign up now!)

But if Congress doesn't act now, at the end of this year that benefit program will be cut nearly in half for transit riders, costing many riders hundreds of dollars more each year.

Drivers will continue to receive the full tax benefit for parking expenses up to $230 per month. Transit riders deserve equal benefits. This represents a tax increase that will feel like a second fare hike for many transit riders.

Tell your members of Congress to have a heart this holiday season by supporting the Commuter Benefits Equity Act (H.R. 2412, S. 1034), which would preserve this important benefit for transit riders. Transit riders in the Chicago region can't afford to take another hit!

TAKE ACTION NOW: Tell Congress not to increase your transit expenses!

Transit challenges in McHenry County

As Active Transportation Alliance employees, we always attempt to walk, bike or take transit when visiting clients or attending meetings away from the office.

Recently, I needed to be at McHenry West High School to lead a student session at 3 p.m. on a weekday as part of a larger project in McHenry County high schools.

McHenry County is 40+ miles northwest of downtown Chicago, and McHenry (the city) is about a 50-mile drive from the Active Trans offices.

While McHenry (the city) does have a Metra stop on the Union Pacific NW line, the station is served from Chicago only three times daily--and none of those times were even close to assisting with my schedule. Crystal Lake is served more regularly and lies about an 8 mile bike ride from McHenry West High School, but Tuesday’s weather was not at all conducive to biking, so I made other plans.

McHenry County has three Pace bus routes, one of which runs between Crystal Lake and McHenry. However, once again, the schedule did not work to my advantage for my meeting time, since the route shuts down midday from about 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Luckily I had a contact who had offered to pick me up, so I took the Metra to Crystal Lake and my contact drove me the rest of the way to my meeting.

After the meeting, I planned to catch Pace Bus Route 806 to the Crystal Lake Metra station for my return to Chicago. I had looked at the map, and the route traveled right past the school and, according to its schedule, would get me to the station at 4:59 to catch the 5 p.m. train. At least I hoped it would…

I stepped out of the school, about 1/2 a mile south of downtown McHenry, and looked left and right for a bus stop sign but saw none. I had 20 minutes before the bus was scheduled to pass, so I walked about 10 minutes down the road, looking for a bus stop sign. Finding no signs, I decided to stand next to a traffic light just outside a post office and wait vigilantly, ready to wave down the bus when it did arrive.

Once the bus arrived, I chatted a bit with the driver who, after I said I was hoping to catch the 5 p.m. train to Chicago, assured me “I usually make that one.” We arrived at the train station with about 2 minutes to spare.

I consider myself an “advanced” transit user, but navigating the options for travel in this situation was a challenge even for me. I commend Pace and McHenry County for the transit options that are currently available, and they are certainly a first step, but there is still a lot of work to do in relation to signage, education and level of service to make transit a viable option for residents and commuters in McHenry County, especially those who cannot or do not have access to a personal vehicle.

In recent weeks, Active Trans has appeared at both CTA and Metra budget hearings with the urgent message that service reductions and fare hikes are not the answer. Instead, what's needed is more support from our political representatives who hold the purse strings. 

If you want to help make transit better in Chicagoland, support Active Trans' Riders for Better Transit campaign.

Long way to go even with $1 billion investment in CTA Red and Purple Lines

Active Trans applauds Governor Pat Quinn and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel for investing in our region’s transit system. Yesterday's announcement to allocate $1 billion to improve the Red and Purple Lines is a great step in the right direction, but it unfortunately falls short of the cost of fully repairing and modernizing these train lines, which the CTA has estimated at $2-4 billion -- just for the Red and Purple Lines north of Belmont.

Our region still has a long way to go toward creating the 21st century transit system we deserve.

Transit in Chicagoland is significantly underfunded. Demand for transit in our region is increasing, yet we are faced again with possible fare increases and service cuts from CTA and Metra.

Transit riders also contend with slow zones, overcrowded trains and buses, and long waits at stations that are dirty and in need of repairs.

Bringing the Red and Purple Lines into a state of good repair is an essential investment, but enormous challenges still remain.

CTA, Metra and Pace together are in need of $24 billion in capital funding to keep our region’s transit system in a state of good repair. To create a 21st century transit system, we need to move beyond simply maintaining what we have.

We need to expand and enhance service, including extending the Red Line to 130th Street. Our transit agencies also continue to face operational deficits because of a lack of funding, which has led to annual doomsdays of fare increases and service cuts.

Our elected officials hold the purse strings. Active Trans encourages Governor Quinn and Mayor Emanuel to continue to make transit a priority.

You can encourage your elected leaders to increase investment in transit through our Riders for Better Transit campaign.

What does Riders for Better Transit think about the proposed CTA budget?

Last week the CTA announced its proposed budget for fiscal year 2012. Transit riders everywhere sighed in relief as they read that Forrest Claypool, the head of CTA, declared no service cuts or fare increases would be implemented…. maybe… tentatively… if and only if….

It’s true, the CTA’s proposed budget as it stands does not include service cuts or fare increases. Based on what we knew about the financial trouble of the CTA--and that Metra’s proposed budget includes a significant fare increase--it’s fair to say that we as riders were bracing ourselves for something worse.

But in this budget, keeping fares and service levels as they are now is precariously balanced on top of a pyramid of contingencies that should have riders very worried.

CTA has made significant cuts in their management and budget, attempting to improve efficiencies within the agency. We as riders applaud this.

But in the proposed budget, CTA's plan to make up the rest of the deficit is dependent on re-negotiation of the labor contracts with the union employees who operate our trains and buses.

Riders for Better Transit encourages finding efficiencies in labor just as we encourage the CTA to cut all possible costs before turning to the riders to bail them out. But we also value our transit operators and understand their need for a living wage and benefits.

Whose side should you take?
As riders we only stand to lose if we take sides in this argument. The CTA and the transit operators are our allies--they care as much as we do that public transit continues to run and improve.

We are their customers and they would love nothing more than to provide us with the best service possible.

We encourage both CTA’s leadership and the local ATU to negotiate in good faith and find a solution that doesn’t reduce service or raise fares.

As transit riders, we want to be a voice in this argument, not a pawn. The burden of bringing our transit agencies to a state of financial stability is being tossed around like a hot potato from the CTA to labor with the very real possibility that at the end of the day it will still land on riders.

It should really fall on our elected officials. Only they have the power to prioritize transit and invest in it meaningfully.

So, hurray for no service cuts or fare hikes?
Let’s not forget, the best case scenario here is that successful negotiations keep fares where they are, giving transit riders the same service we have now--no restoration of the 2010 service cuts and no extensions or expansions. For better transit, we need sufficient and sustainable sources of funding, and neither labor unions nor the CTA will be able to provide that on their own.

Help us speak up. Join Riders for Better Transit today.