Chicago’s ‘doomsday’ transit crisis: Major service cuts loom without funding

CHICAGO - Essential public transit services could be derailed by an unprecedented fiscal cliff, unless additional funding is secured—and fast.  

Officials with the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA)—which oversees finances and funding for the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), Metra, and Pace—revealed that a $770 million annual budget shortfall is on track to take effect in 2026.

What we know:

Transit officials say they have been warning for years that the budget will face a gap when COVID relief dollars run out.

Now, officials are calling the $770 million shortfall a ‘doomsday’ scenario, which would result in significant cuts to the CTA, Metra, and Pace.

"We're going to face some pretty devastating transit cuts across our region," said RTA Executive Director Leanne Redden. "People won't have reliable ways to get to work."

Redden estimates that widespread cuts would cause one in five city workers to lose their daily commute.

The crisis could result in service elimination on four of eight "L" train lines, while closing or reducing service to roughly 50 rail stations.

CTA bus routes would shrink by more than 50 percent.

Plus, early morning and late evening Metra trains could be cut, along with Metra Electric’s Blue Island Branch.  

The cuts would also have major implications for riders with disabilities, who rely on paratransit services.

Pace would stop operating on weekends, weekday wait times would increase, and late-night service would be reduced on 62 routes.

These drastic cuts would cause a ripple effect in all corners of the city and suburbs. Officials say it would take years to undo the damage this causes.

What they're saying:

Xavier Potts, a member of the RTA Citizens Advisory Board, said the cuts would be devastating for many riders.

"I'm lucky that the options to travel from where I am are robust as it is. But, there's so many individuals within the city, areas within the city where the CTA is their connection to the rest of the city. It's their lifeline," Potts said. "Especially people on the South and West Side. They have one rail line, a couple of busses with schedules that are already pretty few and far between." 

Potts, who is a recent UIC graduate, says students will also face extreme difficulties when it comes to getting to and from class.

"This isn’t just a transit crisis—it’s a regional emergency," said RTA Executive Director Leanne Redden. "If the General Assembly does not act this spring, hundreds of thousands of Illinoisans will wake up in 2026 without a way to get to work, school or medical appointments with continued uncertainty in future years about their transit services. This doomsday scenario can still be avoided as long as our state partners vote to fully fund transit operations before it’s too late."

Redden adds that fares would also increase, and a decrease in ridership would lead to additional problems.  

"For those people who never get on a bus or train, think about it in terms of all those extra cars on our already congested highways," Redden said. "The traffic congestion in our region will just become untenable. It just has this sort of cyclical effect of sort of driving everything down. Again, not an outcome that we want for our region."

What's next:

If the Illinois General Assembly secures proper funding by the end of its spring session, trains and buses will continue running as scheduled.

Lawmakers have until the end of May to find a solution.