Chicago-area transit agencies asked to prepare two budgets for 2026

CHICAGO — The agency overseeing the Chicago area’s three transit operators is directing Metra, the Chicago Transit Authority, and bus operator Pace to develop two versions of their 2026 budgets: one based on the current funding shortfall, and one if the state legislature comes through with more funding.

Streetsblog Chicago reports that at a June 12 meeting of the Regional Transportation Authority, Executive Director Leanne Redden said the RTA has no choice “but to begin a budget process that assumes we’ll have 20% less funding in 2026.” While Redden said the RTA will continue to work with elected officials to seek a funding solution, she said at least some impacts of the current shortfall are unavoidable.

The meeting was the first for the RTA board since the state legislature ended its 2025 session without addressing the $771 million shortfall for Metra, the CTA, and Pace, raising the prospect of draconian service reductions [see “Chicago-area transit faces major cuts …,” Trains News Wire, June 1, 2025].

“I don’t want to give everyone false hope that there’s a way to avoid some of the negative impacts,” Redden said. “This is an outcome that was preventable, but we stand ready to do the work and respond to what’s coming down the path.”

Part of the problem, said Kirk Dillard, a former state senator who is chair of the RTA board, is that even if the legislature approves new funding sources, it will take time for that money to reach the agencies: “It’s not a light-switch process. It will take several months to have any new flow of revenue.”

Before the legislature adjourned, the state Senate passed a bill including funding through moves such as a $1.50 surcharge for home delivery of items ordered online, a tax on rideshare trips, and diversion of some existing taxes that currently go to individual counties in the Chicago area for their own transit spending. But there are no guarantees those concepts will move forward if the legislature acts in either a special session or its scheduled six-day veto session in October. And RTA Director of Government Affairs Rob Nash told the board that money from any new revenue stream might not become available until as late as July 2026, even if approved this year.

In the meantime, the RTA will create a task force to determine how to reduce expenses, plan a systemwide fare increase, and see how long federal COVID relief funds can be stretched. The agency has previously said failure to address the shortfall would require a 40% cut in service, including dramatic reductions in Metra frequencies and a shutdown of four CTA rail lines [see “Chicago transit agencies paint dire picture …,” News Wire, March 21, 2025].