Public transit bill raises tollway fees but also mandates safety initiatives, addressing crime & mental health issues  

by BRIAN NADIG

A $1.5 billion state transportation funding bill calls for a 45 cent increase on tollway fees for cars, mandates a multi-jurisdictional law enforcement team to help make transit safer and prohibits municipalities from enacting parking minimums for development projects near a public transportation hub.

The bill brings the CTA, Pace and Metra under the new Northern Illinois Transit Authority, shifting away from the Regional Transportation Authority.

Senate Bill 2111 was approved at about 4:30 a.m. on Oct. 31, the last day of the legislature’s veto session. An earlier proposal had called for a flat tax on online deliveries to help bailout the CTA, but the idea was not part of a final funding package.

The bill comes at a time when President Trump is threatening to withhold federal funding for the CTA due to what he says are high crime rates in the city’s transportation system. He demanded that the city increase its law enforcement presence among the transit system and respond to these concerns by Dec 15.

Last month a woman was set on fire while on the Blue Line in Downtown Chicago, and a man was fatally stabbed on the Blue Line earlier this year near the Rosemont stop.

Also, in 2024 a woman reported being raped on the Blue Line while traveling on the Northwest Side and a man this year reported being robbed on the Blue Line near the Jefferson Park CTA Terminal, 4917 N. Milwaukee Ave.

Alderman James Gardiner (45th) said that it is his understanding that the city responded to Trump but that the letter has not been made public.

“Nobody wants to see the city of Chicago lose (federal funds), but at the same time nobody wants the city of Chicago experiencing the number … of violent assaults it is on its public transportation,” Gardiner said. In the last 5 years assaults on CTA property have increased 150 percent, and it’s unfortunate that a federal funding threat may have been needed for city officials to start taking the crime problem seriously, Gardiner said.

State Representative Michael Kelly (D-15) said that the bill, which Governor JB Pritzker signed into law on Dec. 16, will make buses and trains safer, more reliable and better managed.

“Everyone should wake up knowing that their morning commute will continue uninterrupted,” Kelly said. “Whether you take the train, ride the bus or don’t use public transportation at all, our entire city benefits from a robust transit system.”

Kelly said the system has faced major challenges, fragmented governance, uneven investment and post-COVID ridership slumps. He added that all of that has left transit struggling with unreliable service and a looming fiscal cliff that was threatening to derail it all.

There have been reports that a fiscal cliff of up to $800 million in future years could have lead to significant service cuts on public transportation in the Chicago area. The state is diverting motor fuel tax revenue to help address the transportation system’s financial woes.

Toll road fees in northern Illinois are set to increase 45 cents for cars and 30 percent for trucks under the bill. The new toll on cars reportedly could generate $1 billion a year in revenue.

In addition, the bills allows for a 0.25 percent increase in the RTA local sales tax.

“Riders, transit workers, and stakeholders from the business, labor, environmental, and urban planning sectors told my colleagues and I for years about the challenges and opportunities that exist with our public transit systems,” said state Senator Ram Villivalam (D-8).

“Their concerns were the same ones I see each time I have used public transit myself – delays, ghost buses or lack of service. The status quo wasn’t working. It was time to make a change in order for people to get their school, job, and/or doctor’s appointment in a safe, reliable, and accessible way.”

Kelly and Villivalam also reported the following about Senate Bill 2111:

NITA will operate with new internal and independent auditors to ensure fiscal responsibility in transit planning. A multi-jurisdictional law enforcement team will step up enforcement. NITA will deploy unarmed ambassadors across the system to assist people experiencing mental health crises, including homelessness. A safety office/task force will generate long-term planning to help keep riders and workers safe.

The ambassadors reportedly will be part of an overall safety plan that will include resources from the Cook County Sheriff’s office and local and state police agencies.

The bill also prohibits municipalities in Illinois from enacting minimum parking requirements for development projects within 1/2-mile of a public transportation hub or 1/8-mile of mile of a public transportation corridor. Municipalities are allowed to implement maximum parking requirements, and a developer can voluntarily choose to build parking as long as the parking would be available only to tenants and not to the general public.

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