Op-ed by MarySue Barrett
When I'm
negotiating
my monthly budget, I might daydream about putting off springtime
gutter maintenance or much-needed roof repairs to buy something new, telling
myself that I really need it. But maintaining
my
family's most important
investment, our home, comes first.
Allowing for the complexities of the state budget, the same rule applies. One
basic responsibility is to maintain and strategically expand our transportation
network — the foundation of metropolitan Chicago 's economy, which is the
state's economic engine.
The backbone of our economy is Northeastern Illinois '
transit system, which provides 2 million rides each weekday, carries two-thirds of all
central business district workers and has anchored retail rebirth in dozens of
suburban communities.
The Regional Transportation Authority (RTA), along with Chicago Transit
Authority, Metra and Pace, has done an admirable job of dramatizing the ripple
effect of service cuts that would result from a lack of funds. Since just one
Metra train takes 200 cars off the road, if current bus and train service were
sliced by 25%, tens of thousands more cars would overwhelm the roads.
A dying transit system will chase away investors and further stall an already
tepid real estate market. Multiple urgent issues await negotiation in
Springfield . But it's unacceptable — outrageous, even — that transportation
should have to wait. Transportation costs are the second-largest household
expense after housing costs, surpassing even health care expenditures.
While I still hope for passage this spring of a comprehensive state capital
investment plan that includes sufficient funding for freight, roads and mass
transit, as well as authorization for public-private partnerships and project
selection criteria, transit funding has dire and immediate needs. Operating
costs for the RTA have grown three times as fast as revenue over the past five
years, as the system struggles to serve record-breaking numbers of riders.
The recent auditor general's report revealed that the transit agencies need
funding restored, but they also must restore public trust. Let's streamline the
process and cut costs by declaring that only the RTA will apply for and receive
state and federal capital funding.
The three transit service boards are moving forward with 11 "New Start"
transit projects, which would cost $8 billion when completed. But the total
five-year federal allocation for new capital projects nationwide is $6.6
billion. Clearly, these numbers don't even come close to adding up. A stronger
RTA will make metropolitan Chicago more competitive for scarce federal dollars
by prioritizing projects that provide the most cost-effective use of limited
transit funding.
It will take federal, state, private and new regional resources, but the
payback is huge. If you doubt that, just ask Londoners whether their massive
transit reinvestments had anything to do with landing the 2012 Olympics.
MarySue Barrett is president of the Metropolitan Planning Council.