Does Chicago Need A New Transit Agency? Watchdog Pitches CTA Merger Into State-Run System (2024)

CHICAGO — A good governance group headed by the city’s former inspector general is joining calls to fold the CTA into a “centralized” regional transit agency.

A new report by the Civic Federation recommends the state take advantage of a “once-in-a-generation opportunity” to consolidate Chicago-area transit systems as CTA, Metra and Pace lobby for funding ahead of an impending $730 million fiscal cliff in 2026.

Joe Ferguson, Civic Federation president and former city inspector general, said state lawmakers should use the “change and leverage moment” to bring transit operations for CTA, Metra and Pace under one executive roof in a “complete reset.”

The report builds on proposals made last year by the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, which was tapped by state lawmakers to float bold ideas for the transit system, including the CTA, which has been slower to rebound from the pandemic than other cities.

One centralized agency would reduce “zero-sum” competition for resources, streamline strategies and service goals, improve operational efficiency and save as much as $250 million a year, according to the Civic Federation report.

The clean slate would also allow lawmakers to rewrite the accountability system, Ferguson said.

The Chicago Transit Board, made up largely of politically connected appointees, doesn’t conduct formal performance reviews of embattled CTA President Dorval Carter. The board has rarely questioned the agency’s direction in public meetings, and it has allowed Carter to work without a written contract — all while his salary climbed 60 percent to over $376,000 yearly,a Block Club investigation found.

There are 47 board members appointed by over a dozen public officials across the region’s transit agencies, according to the Civic Federation report.

“If there were proper accountability systems in place, the politics will have less of an impact,” Ferguson said. “We’re talking about rewriting laws to require qualifications on the boards and for people in senior positions managing the system itself. If we’re talking about the CTA, that’s currently soft to non-existent.”

The “chance to start over” would likely move chief oversight of the CTA from mayoral control to the state, which is already the larger source of the agency’s funding, Ferguson said. New York City’s transit system has long been controlled by the governor.

A CTA spokesperson who would not provide a name said in a statement the agency hasn’t seen the Civic Federation report, “nor were we consulted as part of its development,” and could not comment further.

But at a CTA board meeting last year, Carter called the merger proposals a “red herring.”

“We have never had a [funding] formula that worked the way it was supposed to,” Carter said. “The formula that was supposed to create an excess of funding to allow the type of innovation, collaboration and cooperation that many of the stakeholders have suggested has not occurred, didn’t occur as result of a governance problem, but occurred as result of a funding problem.”

The transit system’s fiscal cliff has grown as ridership and fare box collection remain stuck below pre-pandemic levels and the federal stimulus runs dry.

Through the first two months of the year, the CTA had about $157 million in public funding, while its operating expenses were nearly $317 million, according to public data. The agency did not raise fares for the 2024 fiscal year.

Kirk Dillard, chair of the Regional Transportation Authority, which oversees the three transit agencies, said in a statement that public transit has long been “chronically underfunded,” even before the pandemic.

“We welcome discussion on reforms that strengthen coordination, efficiency, and accountability across the regional transit system,” Dillard said. “TheRTA remains open to potential reforms that improve service, but themost significant need for the transit system is increased funding for transit operations.”

Pace spokesperson Maggie Daly Skogsbakken said in a statement the agency “has concerns” about a centralized transit agency.

“Pace, CTA and Metra already coordinate in dozens of different ways, leading to efficiencies that a consolidation will not enhance,” Daly Skogsbakken said. “What is neededis a long-term fiscal solution that doesn’t disrupt progress and allows us to continue providing the critical transit service our riders depend on while building the fast, frequent transit network our region deserves.”

Representatives for Metra did not return requests for comment.

Gov. JB Pritzker’s office also did not return request for comment, but in remarks last week, Pritzker became the highest-ranking officialto call for changes in CTA leadership, and even said “additional leadership” is needed.

“We’re gonna have to consider the plan the CTA should have come forward with already, which we haven’t seen, but that may include changing fares and other things that will help us deal with what is clearly going to be a fiscal cliff here,” Pritzker said at that news conference. “We’re also hoping that we see help from the federal government along the way.”

Some state lawmakers and county board President Toni Preckwinkle are already open to the transit merger proposal, according to Nick Blumberg of WTTW.

Rep. Kam Buckner, one of the first public officials to call for CTA leadership to be replaced, said he’s “not opposed” to a transit merger and plans to speak with agencies and advocates over the summer. Debates at the statehouse could heat up by next year, Buckner said.

“There’s compelling arguments to all of these … but CTA just keeps saying they need more money, more money,” Buckner said. “There should be no more revenue without reform.”

Ferguson said a transit merger would require significant changes to the law, financial modeling and logistics— but the proposal is “not a pipe dream.”

“This is the right moment,” Ferguson said. “The sooner we get started the better.”

Listen to the Block Club Chicago podcast: