DOWNTOWN – Demonstrators took over Downtown streets Saturday to urge Gov. JB Pritzker and state lawmakers to solve a transit funding crisis that could spell disaster for the CTA and suburban commuter systems.
Hundreds gathered for a rally in Daley Plaza, 50 W. Washington St., noon Saturday to ask state officials to solve a $770 million dollar fiscal cliff the Regional Transportation Authority faces next year that could cut area-wide transit service by 40 percent and eliminate CTA bus and train lines, experts have warn.
“When I first came to Chicago, I thought that we’ve got this beautiful backbone here in the city, that backbone being the CTA, that can get you anywhere you want to go,” Ald. Matt Martin (47th) said at the rally organized by a coalition of advocacy groups including Better Streets Chicago, Sierra Club and Strong Towns. “It’s a big reason why I moved to Lincoln Square to put down roots.
“So when we’re talking about the importance of affordable housing, when we’re talking about the importance of our schools, when we’re talking about the importance of people getting to anywhere they need to go … you can’t do that without transit, right? So I am committed to fighting alongside each and every one of you in this battle,” Martin added.
The protest comes after state lawmakers failed to pass a bill this year that would reform the regional transit system and provide funding to plug $770 million gap in transit agency budgets. The bill passed through the state Senate stalled in the state’s House of Representatives before missing the legislature’s June 1st deadline.
At Saturday’s rally, transit advocates and local leaders demanded Pritzker call legislators back to Springfield to solve the transit budget deficit, with some protesters questioning the Democratic Party’s allegiance to their constituency.
“What do we need?” demonstrators chanted. “A special session! When do we need it? Now!”
A special session for the transit bill in the state legislature could be possible later this summer, Pritzker told reporters in a press conference last week.
Despite the possibility of a special session to pass transit funding, critics of Pritzker said he hasn’t doe enough to shore up public transportation financing amid rumors of a possible 2028 presidential bid.Pritzker has repeatedly taken highly-publicized swings at President Donald Trump since the 47th president’s inauguration earlier this year.
“Our Democratic state government is to blame,” Chicago Teacher’s Union representative Jesse Bostic said at the rally. “When I think to myself, ‘What would the Trump administration do if they were given control of the RTA [Regional Transit Authority]?’ It is exactly this. Our governor and state legislature have promised that they will protect Illinois from the cuts and the cruelty of the Trump administration … they are intentionally making the lives of children and working people harder.”
Without state funding, one in five Chicagoans would lose access to public transit in 2026, the Regional Transit Agency previously estimated.
If the cuts occur, the most drastic changes would be felt in Chicago, where the CTA would be forced to shut down half the city’s “L” lines and eliminate nearly 60 percent of bus routes, cutting bus access for 500,000 Chicagoans and leaving “260,000 city workers without a reliable way to commute,” according to the Regional Transit Agency. The frequency of both train and bus service on remaining lines would be reduced by 25 percent.
Disability rights activists at the rally warned that drastic cuts to transit could be “disastrous” for disabled people who rely on public transit.
Mary Delgado has been in a wheelchair since she was 2 years old and said that the news of the budget shortfall was “devastating” for people like her, who are already failed by lackluster accessibility accommodations on a daily basis.
“I already miss multiple trains a week,” Delgado said. “Sometimes, there’s too much space between the train and the track and it takes too long for people to get the ramp for me. If the state cuts transit funding, I don’t know how I’m going to get around, and not just for the necessary things like work or to go see my family on the South Side. It’ll be hard to see my friends, to have fun. I’ll just be confined to my apartment.”
After the speeches, the crowd marched towards Union Station, 225 S. Canal St., before eventually dispersing in front of 555 West Monroe, a West Loop office building hosting numerous state agencies.
Advocates urged attendees to call their state legislators and implore them to vote for the transit bill and push for a special session. For more information on your state representatives, click here.
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