CHICAGO — Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker on Tuesday (Dec. 16) signed into law the legislation providing $1.5 billion in new funding for Chicago-area transit and authorizing the restructuring of the Regional Transportation Authority, the parent agency of Metra, the Chicago Transit Authority, and Pace.
“This new law not only averts the [fiscal] cliff but preserves affordability and makes transit safer and more reliable,” Pritzker said in a signing ceremony at Chicago Union Station, according to a WBEZ Radio report.
The bill, passed in the early-morning hours of Oct. 31 as the Illinois legislature concluded its fall veto session, provides the funding annually through a mix of increases in local taxes, redirection of some tax money from fuel sales, increased highway tolls, and diversion of money from a state road fund. [See “Illinois legislature passes bill …,” Trains.com, Oct. 31, 2025.] It also restructures the membership of the RTA board under the new name of the Northern Illinois Transit Authority, and gives the NITA more power to set fares and schedules across the three operating agencies.
Pritzker had previously indicated he planned to sign the bill.
Critics of the bill include suburban officials who feel the new makeup of the NITA concentrates too many board positions with representatives of Chicago and Cook County, and downstate politicians concerned that the rest of the state will see few benefits from the legislation. One aspect that could benefit those outside Chicago is a change in the law that will allow transit funds to be used for intercity passenger service, which could aid the long-stalled effort to launch train service to the Quad Cities [see “Illinois transit bill could boost …,” Nov. 1, 2025].
— To report news or errors, contact trainsnewswire@firecrown.com.
Don’t Democrats love to spend other people’s money. Any needed increase in funding should come from fare increases and service cuts rather than tax increases. And again, they are stealing from the highway funds so that people who don’t know better or don’t want to see that the highway fund doesn’t cover the cost of highway maintenance. When are the people going to wake up and throw these bums out of office. To Charles’ comment, what does that $50 per year buy the residents of Cairo and other communities not in northern Illinois? Nothing is the answer so I wouldn’t suggest as Charles does that this isn’t a big deal especially considering Illinois’ current financial condition.
A state the population of Illinois can absorb this cost. If my math is correct, this comes out to $12 per each person in the state, or about $50 for a family of four. I assume this is per year, every year. $50 for a family of four per year every year, on top of the tolls, fees and taxes already paid.
This bailout is relatively painless and doable. Going forward, NITA’s challenge will be to maintain service without a further increase in its cost structure such as pensions. To me, the issue isn’t the bailout per se, but whether or not costs decrease and whether or not farebox patronage increases.