Regional transportation officials agreed Thursday to transfer $74 million from Pace and Metra to the CTA in an effort to delay catastrophic transit cuts in Chicago next year.
After an at-times lively discussion, Regional Transportation Authority board members unanimously approved the measure, which is a bid to buy more time as they hope state lawmakers will pass long-term funding for public transit during a legislative veto session in October.
The Chicago region's transit agencies are facing a budget shortfall in the hundreds of millions next year as federal pandemic aid runs out. If lawmakers -- who failed to pass transit funding during their spring legislative session -- don't come to their rescue, the CTA, Metra and Pace will be forced to cut service up to 40%. But the CTA was expected to run out of federal dollars first, months before Metra and Pace.
The decision to shift funds around means the CTA is now expected to hit its fiscal cliff in the middle of 2026. Metra is expected to hit its cliff mid-to-late 2026, with Pace's cliff not expected until 2027, according to the RTA.
The $74 million shifted from Metra and Pace to the CTA represents only a small fraction -- around 1.7% -- of the region's budget, said RTA spokesperson Tina Fassett Smith. Most of the public funding for the CTA, Metra and Pace is locked up in a formula dictated by state law, meaning the RTA cannot choose how to divvy it up.
Now, the CTA will receive all of the RTA's discretionary funding in 2026, and Metra and Pace will receive none.
But the latter two agencies are still expected to see small increases in funding compared to what they were previously projected to receive next year.
That's because the RTA expects to have an extra $10 million to $20 million in sales tax on hand each month because of an expansion of that tax to include more online transactions.
Also Thursday, board members agreed to use $8.3 million in reserves and $34 million in this year's discretionary funds -- including money that otherwise would have gone to the CTA and Metra -- to help bail out the region's paratransit program, which is run by Pace.
Both measures passed unanimously after board members agreed to vote on them together, tying the passage of one to the passage of the other.
Paratransit costs have spiraled out of control since the introduction of a massively popular ride-share program -- which allows riders with disabilities to call subsidized Ubers in lieu of traditional paratransit vehicles -- last year.
The program is at risk of ending the year more than $50 million over budget without further action, including program cuts slated to start this fall. Disability advocates rallied against those cuts ahead of Thursday's meeting and lined up to speak en masse during the public comment portion of the meeting.
Advocates say the ride-share program has been revolutionary for people with disabilities, in large part because it allows ADA-certified riders to call rides on demand. The traditional paratransit program requires riders to call reservations in a day in advance, and some riders complain that it can be unreliable.
The ride-share program, which has also drawn the ire of organized labor, is cheaper to operate per ride than traditional paratransit service. But it has proven so popular that Pace -- which operates federally-mandated paratransit for the entire region -- has seen costs balloon nonetheless.
The RTA board approved proposed guardrails on the ride-share program -- including a cap of 30 subsidized rides per month and modest fare increases -- in June. After hearing from riders Thursday, some board members expressed interest in modifying the proposed cap, though that measure was not up for a vote.
Currently, riders are allowed up to eight subsidized rides per day. Only 5% of paratransit riders would be impacted by the proposed 30-ride-per-month cap, the RTA has said.
"The RTA has directed Pace to implement a fare increase and a 30-ride-per-month cap for the TAP/RAP program," Pace said in a statement Thursday. "We are working with the RTA to explore whether modifications to these planned programmatic changes can be made in response to public input and concerns expressed by both agencies' Boards."
"Our goal is to maintain as much service as possible with whatever funding is made available by the RTA," Pace said.
Earlier this week, Pace's executive director, Melinda Metzger, had expressed some concern about the transfer of discretionary funds to the CTA, warning this week that "shifting resources away from suburban service will have real impacts on our riders."
On Thursday, Pace said it was "pleased a temporary solution is in place."
"We hope that with future funding, these resources will return to Pace so we can continue to support economic growth in the suburbs and strengthen service," the agency said.
Metra had indicated earlier this week that it was on board with the proposal, saying, as did the CTA, that it was hopeful for legislation that would avert the fiscal cliff.
On Thursday, board members acknowledged that they were picking from a menu of bad options, with more than one saying they were agreeing to move the measures forward reluctantly.
"This is, again, another clear indication we're getting closer to the cliff, and we've got a lot of choices that are bad and worse," said Tom Kotarac, one of Chicago's representatives on the board.