Transit Solutions Must Consider Needs of Entire Region

All three service providers need increased funding, improved coordination to support entire region’s public transit system, according to Business Leaders for Transportation

March 31, 2005

(Chicago )….. As the debate continues on improving northeastern Illinois’ public transit network – focused by the excellent work of the state’s Committee on Mass Transit, led by Ill. Rep. Julie Hamos (D-Evanston) – Business Leaders for Transportation urges that any new transit funding solution must consider the needs of transit riders across the region who rely on Metra, Pace and the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) to get to where they need to go.

Business Leaders for Transportation is a coalition of more than 180 business organizations representing over 12,000 employees in the Chicagoland region. The coalition advocates for policy and funding on surface transportation issues critical to the region.

Its members ardently support a strong, regional public transit system as a necessary component of northeastern Illinois ’ transportation network. Public transportation is vital to ensuring the Chicago metropolitan region’s standing in the global economy by attracting businesses to locate here; reducing traffic gridlock; improving the flow of goods and services through the region, which also serves as the nation’s intermodal hub; and providing both city and suburban workers with greater options for getting to and from their jobs. In addition, public transit reduces the effects of congestion on the region’s air quality, ensuring a healthier environment for all residents to enjoy.

Business Leaders for Transportation’s co-leaders – the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, the Metropolitan Planning Council and Chicago Metropolis 2020 – encourage local and state leaders and transportation officials to base a plan for improving the region’s public transit system on the following key points:

1. The current public debate about transit funding focuses on the CTA’s immediate budget problems. However, transit funding is a Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) problem, not just a CTA problem. Any new transit funding solution must consider the needs of the entire region.

2. The Chicago metropolitan region must invest more money in transit in order to compete in the global economy. Successful global cities around the world are growing their transit systems. Further, communities are trying to replicate our excellent transit infrastructure system. Across the country, from San Diego to South Carolina , voters approved a record 41 out of 52 transit and transportation measures in 2004. Although the Chicago metropolitan region boasts the second largest transit system in this country, Illinois ranks 7th in total funding for transit and 8th in funding on a per capita basis. We cannot be satisfied with business as usual or we risk losing our competitive advantage.

3. We should have a goal of doubling transit use from 6 to 12 percent of all trips. We can reverse the trend of declining ridership by making transit more attractive to riders: offering more convenient and frequent rides, providing service between suburbs, and building housing close to transit stops. Doubling transit use will substantially reduce congestion in our region, but achieving it requires investment and coordinated planning.

4. No funding formula should last 22 years without review. What might have been appropriate in 1983 isn’t necessarily what we need today. Good public policy would argue that any public funding formula should have a sunset clause so that it can be reviewed as circumstances and needs change. A new funding formula should be based on system performance measures such as number of trips, length of trips, safety goals, or population served, rather than the arbitrary geography of where the taxes have been collected.

5. Finally, the region needs effective coordinated transportation and development capabilities to make the best use of public resources. Chicagoland needs to enact a regional planning board, such as that currently being discussed by state legislators.

To read this statement online and to learn more about Business Leaders for Transportation, visit www.businessleadersfortransportation.org.

Business Leaders for Transportation was created in 1997 to operate as a collective voice for Chicago-area employers, providing advocacy for policy and funding on surface transportation issues critical to the region. Led by the Metropolitan Planning Council, Chicago Metropolis 2020 and Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, Business Leaders for Transportation is a growing alliance of 100 business organizations representing more than 10,000 regional employers.

For more information, contact Frank Beal, Executive Director of Chicago Metropolis 2020, at 312-332-8188 or Frank.H.Beal@cm2020.org; MarySue Barrett, President of the Metropolitan Planning Council, at 312-863-6001 or msbarrett@metroplanning.org; or Rob Nash, Director of Government Relations at the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, at 312-494-6787 or rnash@chicagolandchamber.org.