The proposed transit-overhaul legislation is getting a thumbs-down from Regional Transportation Authority Chairman Kirk Dillard, but not for the reason you might think.
Legislators are proposing to rename the RTA and change its leadership, but it’s the math that’s giving Dillard heartburn.
A bill by Sen. Ram Villivalam laid out governance structure but also funding proposals to help the Chicago Transit Authority, Metra and Pace — the agencies overseen by the RTA — deal with an anticipated $771 million shortfall next year when pandemic-era federal support ends.
The bill includes a potluck of new revenue sources, from a tax on sales of real estate to a 10% surcharge on rideshare trips. Dillard notes, however, that several of those revenue streams, such as a proposed tollway surcharge, are not going to fund the operations of trains and buses.
“Multiple revenue streams in the bill are deposited into a new transit-supportive development incentive fund and others are dedicated to capital needs, leaving less than half of the new funding available for operations,” he wrote in a letter today.
