With pink slips scheduled for September and planned cuts to transit service, advocates and workers rallied Thursday to urge state lawmakers to prevent a catastrophe
Chicago, IL. – As RTA, CTA, Metra, and Pace teeter over the transit fiscal cliff, transit riders and workers and labor, environmental, and transit advocates rallied on Thursday to urge the General Assembly to return to Springfield for a special summer session to avert the crisis, provide a dedicated revenue stream to fully fund transit, and deliver the world-class transit system Illinoisans deserve.
After months of negotiations, the Illinois General Assembly adjourned on May 31 without addressing the state’s transit fiscal cliff. As a result, the RTA estimates that nearly 3,000 transit workers could lose their jobs, including 2,000 CTA workers. The service boards have indicated that staffing cuts will result in a 40% reduction in service, leaving Chicago with a transit network smaller than Madison, Wisconsin.
“It is imperative that we ensure working class families have access to safe, reliable, and integrated public transit that allows them to get to their job, school, and doctor’s appointments,” said State Senator Ram Villivalam (D-Chicago). “I am grateful to have joined hundreds of transit advocates to highlight the Senate’s passage of House Bill 3438, a package of robust reforms and a transformational investment of more than $1.5 billion in our public transit systems across the state. We are fired up to get this bold legislative package across the finish line in order to avoid 40% cuts to service and 3,000 public transit workers losing their jobs.”
“From employing thousands of workers across Chicagoland, to boosting the state’s overall economy, to connecting Illinoisans to jobs, healthcare, shopping, and each other — transit makes our state work. To keep our transit system working and to avoid devastating cuts to service and jobs, my colleagues in the General Assembly and I need to get back to work ourselves,” said State Senator Graciela Guzmán. “We can’t wait until this fall to pass reforms and funding that will transform our transportation system. Our constituents, our communities, and our climate are counting on us now to build a world-class transit system that Illinoisans deserve — let’s get to work.”
By law, the 2026 CTA, Metra, and Pace budgets must only include the funding they will receive for the next year when presenting their budgets in July 2025. The General Assembly is scheduled to return in October for a fall veto session. However, the agencies must still plan as if they are not receiving the funding to address the fiscal cliff and have indicated that, even if a revenue solution were proposed, the collected revenue from October through December would not be enough to plug the budget hole.
“At a time when cities across the country are cutting transit, Illinois has the opportunity to ensure we are investing in the future of transportation and mobility,” remarked Orlando Rojas, a member of the transportation union, SMART-TD, Local 653, while referring to Philadelphia’s news of 45% transit cuts. “Cutting mass transit will be disastrous for our economy, the riders and workers who rely upon it, and the quality of life for all Illinoisans. Illinois has a chance to lead the nation in transit investment – the General Assembly can do the right thing by returning to Springfield and addressing this now.”
At the rally, transit workers and riders alike expressed fear that anxiety and chaos will reign over the next several months if lawmakers don’t act this summer, noting that a special session is the only way to address these concerns.
“I don’t have a typical nine-to-five job, and often utilize transit at all hours of the day and night to get to my job as a flight attendant based out of Midway Airport,” said transit rider Ann Marie Moore. “If lawmakers don’t act this summer and transit service is cut, I’ll likely have to rely on expensive Ubers and taxis to get to work. A huge part of why I chose to live in Chicago was because of public transit – we can’t lose access to the system that gets us where we need to go.”
“Eight years ago, I sought treatment for Ewing’s Sarcoma at Northwestern Hospital, and ended up walking 40 minutes to the hospital after commuting downtown to Ogilvie on the Metra because the bus system was so confusing. Making our transit system more consistent, easier to use, faster, and covering more area isn’t just a pet project for me; it’s a vital part of my life,” said Evan Urchell, Wheaton, Illinois resident and member of The People’s Lobby and Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition. “I don’t want to see people walking over 30 minutes to catch the Metra or waiting long hours with so much uncertainty because our current system doesn’t work for us. We need state legislators to head back to Springfield now to pass legislation to fix and equitably fund transit.”
Labor, transit, and environmental advocates are united in calling on state lawmakers to prevent a catastrophe this summer instead of waiting until October.
“We’re here today because we know what’s possible if we win,” said Jose Manuel Almanza, director of advocacy at Equiticity, a founding member of the Transportation Equity Network. “If lawmakers return to Springfield and pass a $1.5 billion annual investment in public transit, we can build something worthy of our communities’ dreams – a system where buses show up. Where Metra and CTA connect. Where no one is forced to wait in the dark or miss work because the system failed them. Let’s build the system our people deserve – one that shows up, just like we do.”
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