The board of the Chicago Transit Authority ( CTA ) voted Dec. 16 to postpone threatened service cuts. However, the move appears to be a gamble, with the board pinning its hopes on the Illinois General Assembly providing more funds early next year.
CTA president Frank Kruesi supported the delay, according to the Chicago Tribune, despite having warned in October that service cuts would be inevitable in January if state lawmakers declined to provide a $82.5 million bailout to the CTA—which the legislators did last month. 'It's clearly betting the system,' he stated. CTA chairman Carole Brown also acknowledged the risk by declaring that she is 'deathly afraid of what will happen if [ lawmakers ] don't do anything in the spring.'
The board voted unanimously to put off service reductions that would affect dozens of bus routes and late-night and weekend train service. It also delayed a vote regarding the possible doubling of paratransit fares for disabled customers and agreed to restore late-night and weekend service next month on the 54/Cermak ( Douglas ) branch of the Blue Line, the Tribune also reported.
At least 40 percent of CTA service would need to be cut by next summer to balance the budget, which would crush the nation's second-largest transit system. In addition, the CTA's base fare, now $1.75, would need to be raised to more than $2.15 in July.