New legislation put forth in Springfield could change train trips and bus rides in and around Naperville going forward.
Earlier this month, the Illinois Senate Transportation Committee held a forum at the Naperville Municipal Center, 400 S. Eagle St., titled “The state of transit and how it supports community quality of life.”
The hearing on Aug. 9 was the third in a series of meetings on the issue held around the state.
Proposed Metropolitan Mobility Authority Act
In 2026, state officials expect a $730 million transit deficiency in the budget, as federal COVID-19 funds for Illinois will run out.
The proposed solution to the shortfall? The Metropolitan Mobility Authority Act. The legislation would combine Metra, Pace, the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), and the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) into the Metropolitan Mobility Authority (MMA).
MMA riders would pay a universal fare, no matter which form of transit they choose.
Discussions in Naperville stretched over four hours, as the transit committee heard from area residents, local leaders, and public transit officials.
The first panel featured five area residents, including Villa Park’s Allan Leishman. He represented the Active Transportation Alliance, a public transit advocacy organization that operates throughout Chicagoland.
Leishman said the proposed MMA was a step in the right direction.
“You’ll have a route from CTA that hits the border of Cook County and stops, and then you’ll have a Pace route that picks up at a different spot on the county border, rather than having those two services coordinate with one another, so that’s kind of the goal behind some of the governance reforms,” said Leishman.
Conroy calls local public transit “outdated”
The next panel featured officials from DuPage, Will, and Kendall counties, including DuPage County Board Chair Deb Conroy.
She said the current system for public transportation in DuPage County is “outdated.”
“We have the rare opportunity to make a once-in-a-generation transformation to public transportation… reliability of service must improve, the public has been voting with their feet by walking to their personal vehicles, or rideshares more than a bus stop, metro station, or CTA stop,” Conroy said.
Area leaders could lose influence over public transit
However, Conroy and other area government officials took issue with the act as currently proposed. The legislation would remove the boards of Metra, Pace, CTA, and RTA, establishing a unified, 19-member MMA board, which could lessen DuPage’s influence on transit around the state.
The board would consist of 18 voting directors – three chosen by the governor, five chosen by the mayor of Chicago and president of the Cook County Board, and one member each from DuPage, Will, Kane, McHenry, and Lake counties. The MMA chair would be chosen by the 18 directors, and would not be a person from the existing body.
With only one MMA representative proposed in the initial legislation, DuPage County Board Member for District 5 Patty Gustin echoed Conroy’s concerns.
“The board set up (as currently proposed) is heavily weighted for Chicago and Cook County getting most of the votes if not all the votes… so there’s some unfairness, I would say, or imbalance in that proposal,” Gustin said.
The committee also heard from a panel of transit officials from the organizations that could be merged under the proposed legislation.
RTA Chairman Kirk Dillard touched on new initiatives created with COVID-19 relief funds, such as Metra’s reduced fair program for those of lower incomes. He also covered features planned for area transit, such as a regional day pass between CTA, Metra, and Pace, and the introduction of universal fares.
Dillard said consolidation under the MMA is not the “most effective way to improve service.”
“These exciting new offerings are just the start of what’s possible if the system is provided sustainable, and I mean sustainable operating funding… I am a firm believer with sustainable funding and strategic reform, I’m bullish on transportation improvements in mass transit.”
Next public transit hearing slated for Aug. 28
A hearing was held on Aug. 28 for Kane and McHenry counties, and another is planned Sept. 18 for the northwest suburbs of Cook County and Lake County. A final forum will be held later this year in Springfield.
“Our residents, the taxpayers that pay into this public transit service and system, want to make sure that we’re investing in accessible, equitable, reliable, safe public transit, and public transit that’s not just planned for the next year, but for the year 2050,” said Senate Transportation Chair Ram Villivalam (D-8).
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