Open Illinois.org

The possibility of Chicago hosting the 2016 Olympics has put even more pressure on the CTA to get its act together. For some reason, the main source of reform continues to be pouring more and more money into a failing system that lacks accountability.

Jon Hilkevitch at the Chicago Tribune writes today that

Chicago officials talk—and so far it’s mostly a lot of talk—about the need to shape up the CTA in time for the city to possibly host the 2016 Olympics.

On the state level, elected officials who repeatedly shirked their responsibility to replace crumbling transportation infrastructure in Illinois are now talking, too—perhaps over-optimistically—that the Barack Obama presidency will do much of the heavy lifting.

There are, indeed, projects that CTA needs to finish. But what is this Obama involvement? read on…

Transit officials are hoping to receive start-up money for those projects in the next federal transportation bill that Congress is scheduled to pass next year. Until federal or state action occurs, the Illinois projects will remain in limbo.

First of all…what? Why is anyone making the assumption that the federal government should take a lead role in resolving CTA’s financial woes?

For over 28 years…since the CTA actually functioned at a break even level (See Brief: CTA Looking in All the Wrong Places)… the CTA has been asking for tax payer funded bailouts. Now, they are looking for such bailouts from taxpayers all over the nation?

Guess what? Money flowing into a system that lacks any transparency, any spending accountability, tends to just add to wasteful spending and inefficiency. The CTA needs to start acting more like a business. The cost of operation should be reflected in the price of a ticket. The goal needs to be to operate in such a way that does not promise astronomical losses.

We know there is no such thing as a free lunch. Doesn’t the same apply to a free ride? The political move of giving free rides to seniors gives the incentive for even MORE seniors to utilize CTA…and on whose dollar? CTA needs to become fully transparent by posting all of their expenditures online in a clear, searchable fashion.

Where DOES the money go?

It seems interesting that, with free rides for some, and, now, a proposed fare hike for the rest of us…

CTA pays among the highest wages of any major U.S. urban transit system, devotes a bigger share of its operating budget to payroll than all but a few other big systems, and has created fiscal chaos by mismanaging its pension system.

If the taxpayers had access to where every CTA dollar was going, perhaps their outrage in the wake of wasteful spending and inefficiencies would cause the government to reevaluate how they do public transportation…

…maybe even in time for the Olympics.