Transit Is The Answer Full Document Draft For Public Comment December2022

Contents
About this Document 3

It’s a Time of Great Change, and Transit is Ready 4
We’re Charting the Future by Working Together 7
New Process, New Voices 7
The Vision We Created Together 11
Principles 11
A New Future for Transit is Possible with Stable Funding 16

Operating Funding That Comes from Fares is Not Enough, Action Will Be Needed 16
Capital Funding is Stable and Paying Dividends 25
More Operating and Capital Funding Is Needed for Future Adaptation 31
We’re Moving Forward with an Agenda for Advocacy and Action 33

Advocacy Agenda Detail 34
Advocacy Area 1: Secure increased funding for transit operations. 35
Advocacy Area 2: Develop a funding structure that is less reliant on rider fares,
but instead focused on expanding access to opportunity. 37
Advocacy Area 3: Build a coalition around the value transit brings to the Chicago region. 39
Advocacy Area 4: Support communities’ efforts to improve the area around their transit
stations and stops and pursue equitable transit-oriented development. 40
Advocacy Area 5: Engage with communities in an inclusive and transparent way about
how transit dollars are spent in the Chicago region. 42
Advocacy Area 6: Secure increased funding for transit infrastructure. 43
Advocacy Area 7: Partner with roadway agencies to build more transit-friendly streets
and advance bus rapid transit. 47
Action Agenda Detail 51

Action 1: Make the transit system safer and more secure for everyone. 52
Action 2: Use new funding as a catalyst to create a fully accessible transit system. 55
Action 3: Provide more accurate, real-time travel information for riders. 57
Action 4: Make paying for transit more seamless and more affordable. 59
Action 5: Accelerate the transition to a near-zero emission regional transit system
and prioritize communities burdened by poor air quality. 62
Action 6: Assess the regional capital program in a new way including considerations
for racial equity and mobility justice. 65
Action 7: Adapt bus and rail service to meet the changing needs of riders. 68
Measuring Progress 71
Stay Engaged 77
Related Documents 78
About this Document
This draft document is a five-year plan for the future of transit developed by the Regional
Transportation Authority (RTA) for the six-county region of northeastern Illinois that includes
transit operated by the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), Metra Commuter Rail (Metra), and
Pace Suburban Bus (Pace). This work is the result of more than a year of development, input
from and engagement with thousands of people, including residents across the region, transit
riders past and present, and hundreds of other stakeholders. It comes at a pivotal moment in
the future of the region, and it presents RTA’s immediate commitments to improving the
transit system, priority policies that need more support and are vital to a well-functioning
system, and importantly, a critical choice that RTA, its stakeholders, and leaders must make
together about how to fund our system going forward.
This draft is available for public comment from Monday December 5, 2022 through Monday
January 9, 2023. The final plan will be graphically designed and presented to the RTA Board
of Directors for adoption at its Board Meeting on February 16, 2023. Upon adoption, RTA
staff will immediately begin implementation of several of the key priorities in this plan, while
others are already well under way.
The following pages set out a vision and principles and describe the process taken to create
the plan before diving into the current funding realities and issues the local transit system is
facing. The second half of the plan lays out policy goals, strategies to achieve them, and key
indicators to measure progress. The report concludes with a plan for implementation and
links to related documents providing details and background on the process and research.
To provide public comment online, visit www.rtachicago.org/transit-is-the-answer. You
can also email comments to [email protected].
To take action to advance this agenda, save transit, and improve it for the future:
• For Organizations: Join our Transit is the Answer Coalition. We will be in touch
about opportunities for you to participate in plan implementation activities.
o A partner toolkit to advocate for increased funding for transit will be available
upon RTA Board consideration of this plan in February 2023.
• For Individuals: Sign up for RTA communications and follow RTA on social media
to receive regular updates on the coalition and progress on the plan actions.
Transit is the Answer - Regional Transit Strategic Plan DRAFT 3

It’s a Time of Great Change, and
Transit is Ready
Trains, buses, and paratransit have been part of the social and economic fabric of Chicago
and the surrounding communities in the six-county RTA region for over 100 years. Like our
Great Lake, innovative architecture, and magnificent human diversity, our transit system is
what makes us who we are. Millions have stepped from platforms and sidewalks onto trains
and buses with fellow riders that have a common purpose: To go somewhere. Generations
have taken part in the daily ritual of a bus ride home after a long workday or jumped onto a
train with enthusiasm enroute to a weekend outing. If you’ve lived in or visited Chicago or a
surrounding town or village, chances are that you’ve ridden a train or bus, or spotted one
passing by. Public transportation is so much a part of the culture, community, and landscape
for many towns that it’s easy to take for granted.
Yet transit, like so many parts of our society, has been through a lot over the last three years.
The public transit system in Northeastern Illinois and those serving other large urban areas
would have collapsed – victims of the pandemic – had transit workers not gotten up each day
to do their jobs so that other workers going to hospitals and factories and food stores could
get to work and had the federal government not recognized transit as essential to the nation’s
social and economic viability. The region learned during the pandemic that ridership alone is
not the only measure of the system's value, and that there was value in moving essential
workers and people making essential trips (medical, grocery shopping, childcare etc.).
Cities and large urban areas are taking a leadership role in making commitments to equity,
inclusive economic growth, sustainability and resiliency. Public transit usage during the worst
of the pandemic demonstrated why buses and trains are still a necessary part of our social
and economic fabric. As the City of Chicago and many other communities in the region gear
up for lowering transportation emissions and fostering inclusive economic growth, transit is
going to be a central part of achieving these goals. Transit has survived the pandemic, but
ridership – and with it, revenue from fares – sustained precipitous declines and has not
returned to pre-COVID levels. Related economic shifts and other factors have resulted in a
system more vulnerable to violent crime and labor shortages have impacted every aspect of
service. As a result, the transit system is not serving riders as well as it could or should.
Meanwhile, the regional sales tax that historically represents about 40% of operations funding
has performed well during the pandemic. Sales taxes and federal emergency relief money
will keep the region’s trains and buses running into 2025, when our system encounters a
fiscal cliff. If the current funding model that is reliant upon fares is not changed and additional
funding is not secured, the transit agencies will face an existential crisis that neither fare
hikes or service cuts can solve while preserving a useful and equitable transit system for the
region.
But we know the future does not have to be so dire. The importance of transit to the region –
and an unthinkable prospect of shrinking the system – has focused our region’s collective
minds on a plan to preserve transit and improve it for current and future riders, and a way to
meet the region’s larger goals on equity, climate, the economy, and more.

The RTA has spent the last year working with hundreds of people who ride and are
passionate about our region’s transit system to look at public transit in a new way, as a key
link in our social infrastructure and a foundation underpinning Northeast Illinois’ massive,
diversified economy. In this process, we have worked to center the voices of riders. Essential
workers were consistent riders during the pandemic, having long relied on the transit system
to meet their everyday needs, and within their experiences and expertise about the system
lay the strategies to improving transit for everyone.
The unprecedented nature of the past few years made it clear that the RTA could not conduct
this planning process alone. The agency committed itself to change and to more deeply
engage our region’s diverse communities than it had ever done prior. A process that began
as public engagement became one of co-creation. The collective wisdom of our region’s
riders revealed expectations for public transit to be an agent of change in answering long-
postponed regional questions of: equal access to opportunity; equitable alignment of
services; and how to unify the region in a connected, safe, and reliable transportation network
that leads in the fight against climate change. They see transit as the answer, and this action
and advocacy plan reflects the region’s diverse voices.
The RTA has heard this input and has worked with the Service Boards, partners, and
stakeholders to advance a comprehensive Agenda for Advocacy and Action that is described
later in this document. The Agenda is extensive and includes many supportive activities that
will be undertaken by the RTA, CTA, Metra, Pace, and the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for
Planning (CMAP).
As a part of that Agenda, the agencies will work together in 2023 on a number of actions
central to transit’s long-term success including to:
• Take affirmative steps forward to secure increased funding for transit operations and
make the system less reliant upon fare revenue through:
o Executing a broad public outreach campaign of education about transit funding
and continuing to engage a coalition that will secure sustainable, ongoing
funding.
o Collaborating with regional partners to identify funding options and developing
revenue proposals.
o Obtaining continued recovery ratio relief from the Illinois legislature while
developing permanent funding structural reform.
• Deliver a set of new regional transit initiatives that will make the system better for
riders including:
o Convening a region-wide, cross-sector safety and security summit to facilitate
information sharing and explore holistic solutions to the challenges affecting
transit.
o Seeking funding to pilot an expanded regional free or reduced fare program
available to people experiencing low incomes to make the system more
affordable and advance understanding about the barriers that fares present to
riders.
o Commissioning an independent review of the accessibility and quality of rider
communication, signage, and information-sharing across and between agencies.
• Collaboratively begin development of three regional action plans to program

investments that support a thriving region including:
o A regional blueprint for improved accessibility that builds upon existing Service
Board plans and provides a comprehensive inventory of capital projects and

supporting infrastructure improvements needed to achieve a fully accessible
regional transit system.
o A regional transit climate action plan that builds upon existing Service Board
plans and identifies how transit can support the region’s climate action goals,
outlines regional strategies that will encourage more people to ride transit, and
charts a course to reduce the footprint of the transit system and move toward
zero-emissions for transit operations.
o A transit-friendly communities policy, updating the RTA’s Setting the Stage for
Transit report, to set standards for communities and hold them accountable for
land-use decisions and improving access to transit to ensure that our riders can
travel safely and efficiently.
These tasks will be undertaken jointly by the agencies, in addition to and in collaboration with
other activities outlined in key plans issued by all three agencies recently including:
• CTA’s customer-focused “Meeting the Moment: Transforming CTA’s Post-Pandemic
Future” Action Plan (“Meeting the Moment Action Plan”) released in August 2022 that
includes strategic initiatives designed to immediately respond to riders’ most pressing
challenges. 1
• Metra’s new strategic plan “My Metra, Our Future,” released for public comment in
October 2022, that includes a revised vision, mission, and goals for the agency and will
serve as a roadmap to the future of Metra. 2
• Pace’s current strategic vision “Driving Innovation” adopted in September 2021 that
establishes major planning and policy initiatives and priorities for the coming years. 3
Transit is the Answer also builds upon the collaboration and successes that resulted from
Invest in Transit, the 2018-2023 Regional Transit Strategic Plan adopted by the RTA Board in
January 2018. Invest in Transit underscored the importance of sustainable capital funding in
achieving strategic goals and outlined several priority projects that would be advanced with
additional capital funding. The plan guided the collective work of the transit agencies and
yielded success with the passage of a major state capital bill, Rebuild Illinois, in 2019. Under
state law, the RTA board is required to adopt a Strategic Plan no less than every five years,
so Transit is the Answer has been developed as the next plan.
Read on to learn more about how transit is the answer to many of the region’s challenges,
and how you can stay involved as we move forward with an Agenda for Advocacy and Action.
Transit is the Answer…Creating Economic Output

The RTA region’s transit system covers approximately 3,700 square miles, serves 8.3 million residents,
and provides access to 4.2 million jobs across Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will counties. 4
In 2019, the economic activity in the six counties covered by the RTA system accounted for 74% of
overall economic activity across Illinois. 5 All of this economic dynamism occurs in less than a tenth of
the state’s total area. Without transit and the connections that it enables across our region, this level
of economic activity would not be possible. Our transit system is an economic differentiator for the
region—linking talent to opportunities, building economic resilience, and spurring growth. 6

We’re Charting the Future by
Working Together
The scale, complexity, and existential nature of the challenges that our transit system is
currently facing demanded a new, inclusive process to develop this strategic plan. The
challenges are too great for any one agency or organization to tackle on its own, and the RTA
believes that it is only through coalition building — mutual learning and agenda setting — that
we can rise to meet the moment. The RTA is committed to change, and the process we have
followed over the past 18 months reflects that commitment. Every aspect of the plan,
including its Vision, Principles, and action items have been created through collaboration and
engagement with thousands of diverse voices over the past year.
This engagement strategy had two long-standing, guiding principles: transparency and
accountability. While these principles have long been central to the RTA, the engagement
process deepened and redefined how they are enacted at the RTA and in our regional
planning processes.
New Process, New Voices

We employed a big tent approach for this plan development process—engaging a diverse
array of voices and perspectives from across the region to co-create the plan’s priorities. In
order to engage with a diverse array of stakeholders, we identified four key audiences and
tailored our approach for each group.
• Impacted public represented current and lapsed riders, and residents of the six-county
region the RTA serves. This group focused on those who are closest to transit and transit
decisions across the region and have critically important lived experience, though not
always deep technical transit planning knowledge. They were actively engaged across
the planning process with a particular focus on asynchronous and in-person pop up
engagement opportunities with clear ways for them to weigh in on their experience with
transit across the region. and follow progress.
• Movers were composed of regional and local planners, advocates, academics, chambers
of commerce members, and local business staff. They were engaged in advance of
decision points, through one-on-one conversations, regular meetings, and planning
workshops. Movers offered both lived experience and subject matter expertise. Their
buy-in and insight were important to shaping the strategic plan.
• Influencers were defined as the RTA leadership and staff, Service Board leadership and
staff, and elected officials. This group helped shape priorities from the public and Movers
into an actionable agenda that transportation agencies and elected officials can work
together to implement in the coming years.
• Decision makers are members of the RTA Board of Directors and as such will ultimately
affirm this plan through formal adoption. The decision makers were provided with regular

updates during RTA Board meetings and participated in other engagement opportunities
over the course of the planning process.
The strategic plan was developed over the course of 18 months across three main phases:
we (1) listened; (2) co-created; and (3) coalesced. Each of these is explained in more detail
below.
1. Listened
The goal of the listening phase was to gather and share initial input on the priorities,
challenges, and opportunities that the plan should address. This phase included multiple,
wide-ranging touchpoints including a guest blog series from transit thinkers around the
country and region, a public forum held with the University of Illinois-Chicago, guest speakers
at the RTA Board of Directors meetings, stakeholder workshops, and a public survey that
received more than 1,500 responses. Key questions asked during this phase were:
• What is currently the greatest opportunity for impact that the strategic plan process
should address?
• What types of transit system changes should be the focus of this process?
• Which key financial issues should be addressed through this process?
• What are some productive ways for RTA to define, understand, and incorporate equity
during this process?
Engagement during the listening phase defined the vision, outcomes, and principles of the
plan. These elements were used to hone the approach and key questions asked in later
phases of the process. Before moving forward, we shared a draft of the outcomes, which we
refined based on feedback and public comment from the RTA Board of Directors and the
audiences of focus.
The listening phase made clear that this plan needed to leverage the region to solve
problems that RTA was unable to tackle on its own, and to continue engaging a diverse
range of stakeholders to embody the principles of the plan: stewardship, commitment to
change, and equity.
Engagement Activities
• Board workshop in August 2021
• Guest speakers at the RTA Board of Directors meetings Fall 2021
• Guest blog series from transit thinkers around the country and region
• Public forum held with the University of Illinois-Chicago
• Public survey with partner promotion toolkit that garnered 1,500+ responses
• Stakeholder (“Movers” Group) workshop
• Social media, blog, and newsletter updates
2. Co-Created
In response to the high level of interest seen in the Listening Phase and the strong sense of
urgency and demand for an inclusive process that was expressed during that phase, RTA
convened five working groups to examine key topics for the plan, identify priorities, and
develop recommendations. It was important for RTA to work in partnership with diverse
stakeholders and together build the goals and strategies that frame this plan. RTA offered
stipends to any participate who requested it to ensure that they were compensated for their
time and expertise. The RTA had experimented with using compensation to encourage

diverse public participation through its Community Planning program but this was the first
time it had been used as a tactic for inclusive engagement as part of a strategic plan process.
Working group meetings were carefully designed to create a productive and inclusive forum
for discussion and cultivate a group of stakeholders that are knowledgeable about transit
issues and potential solutions and can act as champions of the plan and its
recommendations.
Working Groups
• Two technical working groups on Capital Priority Projects and 10-Year Financial Plan
o Groups were comprised of technical experts from RTA, the Service Boards, and
CMAP.
o Each group produced a technical memo outlining recommendations to be included
in the final plan.
• Three stakeholder working groups on Transit Service, Financial Responsibility, and

Infrastructure Investment
o Groups were comprised in total of 100+ individuals, representing 70+ organizations
from across the region.
o Innovative engagement strategies were deployed including a working group hub
website for document sharing, direct compensation (upon request) to individuals
and organizations for participation, and feedback surveys following each meeting.
o Each group produced a memo summarizing recommendations to be included in the
final plan.
3. Coalesced
Working group members generated hundreds of desired actions to improve the regional
transit system and help deliver this plan’s vision for safe, reliable, accessible public
transportation that connects people to opportunity, advances equity, and combats climate
change. RTA conducted additional outreach to hear from people in each of the six counties of
the region, learning about how and why people value transit and their priorities to improve the
system. The RTA worked with partners at the Service Boards and CMAP and incorporated
broader public and stakeholder input to craft an Agenda for Advocacy and Action and a plan
to immediately begin implementing the highest priority items.
Engagement Activities
• Stakeholder (“Movers” Group) workshop and working group panel discussion
• Two public input surveys, garnering thousands of responses
• Five workshops with Service Board and CMAP staff
• Eight in-person engagement events across the six counties
• More than 50 presentations to partners, stakeholders, and county boards
• Public hearing
The vision, principles, goals, and strategies found in the rest of this document are the direct
culmination of this process and the hundreds of hours of engagement that shaped it. The
transit system that RTA helps manage belongs to everyone, as do the recommendations in
this plan. Transit in itself is a public good and this process was a reflection of that ideal, it was
done for, and by the region, and its implementation relies on regionwide partners as well.

Transit is the Answer … Economic Opportunity
Transit is an economic equalizer that connects people to the diversity of opportunities across our
region. Transit’s critical role connecting people to jobs and services was underscored during the
pandemic. Between November 2020 and January 2021 riders across the system were surveyed by
RTA. Essential workers, people who identify as Black or Latinx, and riders experiencing low incomes
were most reliant on transit. 7 Additionally, 70-85% of riders on CTA, Metra, and Pace indicated that
they worked jobs in “on-site” industries such as retail, education, and healthcare. 8
Figure 1: Responses from RTA Survey Conducted in November 2020 and January 2021
Showing Worker Industry by Service Board and Rider Type

The Vision We Created Together
The new vision for transit that was created through this collaborative process.
Our vision is safe, reliable, accessible public transportation that connects people to opportunity,
advances equity, and combats climate change.
Principles
Three core principles have guided the process of developing this plan and will be central to
implementation – Equity, Committed to Change, Stewardship.
Equity
The Chicago region is home to more than 8 million residents of all races and ethnicities, but a
legacy of racism and segregation, including in our transportation system, has led to
inequitable access to opportunity for too many.
The RTA recognizes the historic harms that have left people and communities of color, those
experiencing lower incomes, residents with disabilities and older adults – all groups who rely
most on transit – without the transportation network they deserve.
Transit connects people to jobs, education, and healthcare. It provides independence to
people with disabilities. It transports people to economic opportunities beyond their
community. During the pandemic it was a constantly humming lifeline, continuing to provide
essential trips, including those for workers like nurses and warehouse employees to jobs that
allowed millions to stay home.
In 2021 TransitCenter released the Transit Equity Dashboard to measure how access transit
systems provide varies across population groups. The analysis shows that in the urban core
of our region, Black and Latinx residents can access 18% and 17% fewer jobs via transit than
the average resident traveling in the AM Peak, while White and Asian residents can access
19% and 43% more jobs than the average resident, as shown in Figure 2. 9

Figure 2: Average Number of Jobs Accessible from Home in 45 min by Transit for
Different Population Groups in the Chicago Urban Core, TransitCenter Fall 2021
Across the region, Black and Latinx residents who rely on transit to get to work have longer
commute times compared to the regional average and White workers. 10
Figure 3: Average Commute Time via Transit in Minutes By Race, Replica Fall 2021
46 46
45
44
44
43
43
42
41
41
40
39
38
White Workers
White Workers All Workers Latinx Workers Black Workers
Fulfilling the promise of a more equitable transit system, including increasing access by Black
and Latinx workers, for the Chicago region will take deliberate policy decisions made by a
coalition of decisionmakers, and changes to policies and administrative processes that
operationalize those decisions. In addition to the moral imperative to provide equitable transit
access, doing so is economically the smart decision. Employers cannot access the full talent
pool that could improve their workforce, and as the Chicago region continues to recover from
the pandemic, we can’t afford to leave anyone behind.

Providing an Affordable Way to Travel
Transit also preserves affordability. Across the region, households allocate 20% of their budget to
transportation costs, and the average cost to own and drive a car is nearly $12,000 annually. 11 By
using transit, households can drive less, own fewer cars, and save thousands of dollars each year.
Figure 4: Annual Transportation Costs for Chicago Area Households
$11,820
$900
Annual Transit Cost (CTA + Pace Annual Cost of Owning/Operating Car

Unlimited Pass)
Committed to Change
Change is the only constant in transit and the calls to change have accelerated during the
past few years. The pandemic shifted the way we live, work, and move; as a result, public
transit must adapt.
The RTA acknowledges that it can be challenging for public agencies to change, but the
status quo is not an option. The combined effect of changing travel trends, new technologies,
and the pandemic, have resulted in more people today working from home or choosing to
drive nearby home or to work rather than ride transit than five years ago. This makes our
roads more crowded, our commutes slower and more expensive, and our air more polluted.
It also means that the commuter-focused transit system will need to pivot to serve more of
people needs in the middle of the weekday, evening, and weekend.
Innovation is required not only to rethink how we fund transit and meet the changing needs of
riders, but also to improve how our transit agencies work together and better engage the
communities we serve when making decisions about transit investments.
Across more than 1,000 people surveyed, from November 2021 to February 2022, “creating a
more flexible system that better serves destinations outside of downtown Chicago during
hours outside of the traditional AM/PM commutes” ranked at the top of potential changes that
need to be made to regional transit.

Figure 5: Percent Change in Regional Trips Taken on an Average Weekday as
Compared to September 2019, Replica Fall 2022
15%
10%
5%
3%
0% 0%
-5%
-10%
-15% -15%
-20%
-25%
-27%
-30%
Cook County, IL DuPage County, IL Kane County, IL
Lake County, IL McHenry County, IL Will County, IL
-35%
Changes in Travel Patterns

Travel across the region on all modes of transportation plummeted at the onset of the COVID-19
pandemic, only returning to pre-pandemic levels by the spring of 2021. Travel has been the slowest
to return in Cook County, with the number of trips increasing more rapidly in Kane, McHenry, and
Will Counties—all of which are seeing 7% or greater increases in the number of weekday trips. As of
September 2022, regional travel, measured as trips on all modes of transportation, was 3% above
2019 levels. 12 The share of residents working from home across the region was 4.1% in September
2019, peaked at 38.5% in April 2020, and is now at 16.7% as of September 2022. 13 This increase in
working from home is one way in which the patterns of travel have changed.
Stewardship
The RTA recognizes that we are stewards of America’s second-largest transit system, a
world-renowned combination of historic infrastructure and modern innovation. This system
has allowed the Chicago mega-region to grow into a dynamic global economy equal in size to
that of Switzerland and now must adapt in response to urgent questions of social, economic,
and environmental change even as financial challenges loom.
The RTA and Service Boards are committed to addressing these financial challenges head-
on while also being good financial stewards of the limited dollars available to ensure that this
mass transit system, a lifeblood that runs through 274 communities, is viable for the next
generation.
Prior to the pandemic, our region was one of the most efficient in delivering transit service. In
2019, the average operating cost per passenger mile traveled was $0.75, which was lower
than that of the majority of peer regions.

Figure 6: Regional Average Operating Cost per Passenger Mile for the Chicago Region
and Nine Peer Regions, 2019
$1.28
2019 rank: 3
2018 rank: 2 $1.07
$1.05
$0.94 $0.94 $0.95
$0.87
$0.71 $0.75
$0.69
Our system is operated in a cost-effective way but keeping costs low is not the best or only
way to measure stewardship or overall effectiveness. We as a region, must do more to
acknowledge and measure transit’s place as a public good in our society. Making
investments in our public transit system means making communities more accessible to
everyone, providing people with access to a job, education, healthcare, and the necessities of
life and reducing the climate impacts of the broader transportation system. Investing our
shared resources in transit is how we can all be good stewards of the world around us and
create the region we want for ourselves and for our future.

A New Future for Transit is
Possible with Stable Funding
Stakeholders and the public have been clear that transit is a valuable asset that needs to be
preserved, improved, and expanded. However, the reality of transit systems nationwide is
that they have been undervalued and underinvested as public funds have been channeled to
roads, parking, and other infrastructure that supports autos more than transit. That paradigm
needs to shift to investing in more efficient, equitable ways of transporting people than driving
alone: Transit is the answer.
Invest in Transit highlighted the need for increased capital funding to help the transit system
grow and stay competitive in 2018, at a time when transit was relatively stable but threatened
by declining condition, competition from transportation network companies, and ongoing
roadway congestion. The new capital funding programs from the State and Federal
governments and activities undertaken since Invest in Transit will allow the RTA and Service
Boards to deliver significant capital improvements over the next five years and beyond. That
said, the work of improving a one-hundred-plus-year-old system will never end – decades of
disinvestment has resulted in a large backlog of projects that still need to be completed.
Moreover, the transit system now faces the additional instability of a looming operating
funding crisis and new travel demands resulting from the pandemic. Both capital and
operating investment must continue at even greater levels far into the future in order to make
transit more modern, competitive, and reliable.
Operating Funding That Comes from Fares is Not

Enough, Action Will Be Needed
The Chicago region’s transit system is currently funded by a combination of regional sales
tax, funding from the state of Illinois, and revenue generated by the system like fares paid by
riders. Before the pandemic, sales tax was relatively stable but fare revenue was declining
slowly and funding constraints limited the Service Board’s ability to test new and innovative
models that wouldn't immediately generate ridership and revenue.
Chicago’s transit systems continued to be a lifeline for more than 250,000 daily riders during
the worst of the pandemic. While many continued to ride, many other people stopped riding
transit or rode less frequently, which meant that fewer fares were collected and the RTA
system – like many transit agencies across the county and the world—faced an immediate
budget crisis.
The federal government, over two administrations of differing political parties and as lobbied-
for by transit agencies and advocates from across the country, responded and recognized the
need for and importance of continued transit operations relief funding in 2020 and 2021. In
total, RTA received an allocation of $3.5 billion in federal relief funding to help offset fare
revenue losses from declining ridership due to the pandemic. This relief funding combined with
RTA sales tax and state funding buoyed the transit system through the darkest early months of the

pandemic and continues to support it today. However, as described in this section, this federal
relief funding is expected to run out in 2025. There is historic precedence for the federal
government funding transit operations but not large systems like ours since the 1980s.
Ridership crossed a million daily rides threshold in the fall of 2022. However, this return is not
enough for fiscal stability and puts into question the reliance on fares moving forward.
Moreover, ridership isn’t expected to recover to 2019 levels for the foreseeable future. The
public health and safety restrictions in place during the pandemic, the increase in people
working from home, and changes in how people travel have all combined to drastically
reduce transit ridership since March 2020. While riders are returning to the system, the
impacts of the pandemic and permanent changes in remote and hybrid work are projected to
result in lower levels of ridership for the remainder of the decade compared to 2019.
Each agency is working tirelessly to bring back riders, however, beginning in 2026, the
system could face a $730 million annual budget gap assuming current service levels are
maintained regionwide. At nearly 20% of the annual expense budget, this gap will prohibit
any additional improvements to the regional system.
Figure 7: Projected Annual Operating Expenses and Revenues Including Budget

Shortfall, 2026
Inaction, Service Cuts, and Fare Increases are Not Acceptable –

or Sustainable
If no action is taken, the agencies and their Boards will be faced with difficult choices to cut
service, raise fares, or both. Actions to dramatically cut operating costs could include
instituting major lay-offs, route or line eliminations, service cuts, station closures, cancellation
of capital improvement projects, and other drastic measures that will further damage our
transit system and cause massive disruptions to the region’s economy, workforce, and
communities.
It is impossible for RTA and the Service Boards to solve the funding crisis by raising fares
alone, as fare increases of the magnitude needed to fill the budget gap — nearly doubling
from what they are today — would drive down ridership and negate additional revenue

brought in by higher fares. Even if ridership were assumed to be unaffected by fare increases
(an assumption which is not supported by empirical evidence from studies on rider behavior),
such large fare increases would be truly unprecedented and render the system unaffordable
for many riders, particularly the most vulnerable users who have few other options and would
be in direct conflict with the Equity principle this plan outlines.
Drastic fare increases would also cause people to find other travel options and drive down
ridership even further, necessitating more fare increases or additional reductions in service,
further decreasing ridership and eroding transit across the region to a point where the system
would no longer be recognizable to an area resident today. For example, a rider paying the
full fare of $2.50 today to ride the ‘L’ each way would pay $10.00 for a round trip, a Metra
rider purchasing A-E tickets for $6.25 today would pay $25 for a round trip, and a Pace rider
paying $2.00 today for a one-way bus trip would pay $8.00 for a round trip – and all of this for
the same system that exists today with no major improvements or expansions. Doubling of
fares is simply unrealistic, as it would make the system one of the most expensive in the
country, make transit less competitive with other modes, and cause dire consequences.
During the RTA’s strategic plan process, RTA asked people how the region should respond
to a potential future budget deficit—by scaling back service or pursuing additional funding for
transit. Survey respondents overwhelmingly indicated that RTA should pursue additional
funding to maintain our robust transit system (87%) rather than cutting service (13%). These
same sentiments were echoed in the hundreds of conversations we had with residents
across the region and the dozens of stakeholder workshops we organized. These
conversations and in-depth discussions underscored the fact that people want to maintain the
system and see increased investment to the make transit safer, more reliable, and accessible
to everyone.
While some degree of fare increases and cost-controls will likely be needed in the future,
these actions alone to the scale that would be needed to fill the impending budget gap would
be counterproductive. Instead, the RTA and partners should take definitive steps forward to
fill the funding gap in today’s structure with an increase in public investment to ensure that
stewardship of this world-class transit system can continue far into the future.
The Agencies are Working Toward Multi-Pronged Solutions

Knowing that a future funding crisis is looming, RTA and the Service Boards are working hard
to avert these financial challenges and evolve toward a more sustainable funding structure. A
Technical Working Group composed of staff from the RTA, Service Boards, and CMAP was
dedicated to this subject during the plan development process. The group identified and
evaluated 27 federal, state, and local revenue policies to support the Chicago regional transit
system. Each revenue policy was evaluated and scored based on several criteria, including
annual revenue estimates, impacts of the funding source on historically disadvantaged
groups, and the resources needed to establish the revenue source and collect revenue as
shown in Table 1.

Table 1: Criteria Used by 10-Year Financial Plan Working Group to Evaluate Potential
Revenue Options
Criterion Definition Rating Scale
Low: Fluctuation is significant and

unpredictable, and factors affecting
stability are not identified
The extent to which the
funding source may be Medium: Fluctuation is moderate and
Stability expected to change in relatively predictable, and factors
volume (excepting inflation) affecting stability are understood
from year to year
High: Fluctuation is low or nonexistent
and volumes are highly predictable
Low: The source has little alignment

The extent to which the with public transit
revenue source has been
utilized to support regional Medium: The source has historically
Nexus with supported public transit
public transit previously
Transit
aligns with or supports the
purpose of regional public High: The source creates and/or
transit as a public good strengthens incentives to use public
transit
Low: The source is regressive,

The degree to which costs reinforcing the status quo which
associated with the funding predominantly affects historically
source reduce the share of disadvantaged groups
impacts on historically
disadvantaged groups, Medium: The source falls on all
Equitable
particularly low-income income levels and socioeconomic
Outcomes
households and including groups, irrespective of the
communities of color, people consequences
who possess limited English
proficiency, have a disability, High: The source is progressive, with
and/or are senior citizens a lower share of revenue collection
from historically disadvantaged groups
Low: The revenue source represents a

new mechanism for revenue collection
and new procedures must be
established
The amount of resources

Ease of Medium: The revenue source is not
needed to establish and
Administrative yet in place but is structurally similar to
maintain the revenue source
Implementation existing revenue sources and can be
and collect revenue
collected using existing procedures
High: The revenue source is already in

place and requires no additional
resources for administration

The eleven highest-scoring funding solutions and estimated potential yields are shown in
Figure 8, Table 2, and described below:
• Increase RTA Sales Tax This option involves an increase of 0.25 percentage points
in the existing RTA sales tax levied on Cook County and Collar Counties in the RTA
service area.
• Increase State Motor Fuel Tax This option involves an increase of $0.05 per gallon
in the Illinois Motor Fuel Tax (MFT) levied on the sale of gasoline or diesel, with
revenues dedicated to transit operations.
• Implement Congestion Pricing This option involves a congestion pricing

mechanism to levy a geographic- and/or temporal toll or fee on travel on Chicago-
area highways into the city with revenues dedicated to transit operations
• Expand RTA sales tax on services This option involves an expansion in the
existing RTA sales tax to cover services, most of which are currently exempt from
taxation.
• Implement VMT Tax This option involves a VMT tax, a tax on the number of miles
driven in a vehicle, to replace 5% of state MFT taxes lost by fuel efficiency and EV
adoption and dedicate revenues to transit operations.
• Expand RETT This option would extend the Real Estate Transfer Tax from real
estate transactions in the City of Chicago to the entire RTA service area, with
revenues dedicated to all Service Boards.
• Increase Tollway Tolls This option involves a 5% increase in tolls on the Illinois
State Toll Highway Authority (Illinois Tollway), with revenues dedicated to transit
operations.
• Increase State PTF match A 5% increase in the amount transferred from the Illinois
General Revenue Fund to the Illinois Public Transportation Fund (PTF) as part of a
State match for revenues generated regionally.
• Increase Vehicle Registration Fee This option involves an increase to the vehicle
registration fee for vehicles registered in the RTA service area by 10% and dedicating
the revenues to the RTA for transit operations.
• Increase Reduced Fare Reimbursement This option calls for an increase in State
reimbursement to RTA and Service Boards to offset revenue losses from free and
reduced fares provided to the elderly, people with disabilities, and students.
• End State surcharge This option involves the elimination of the 1.5% surcharge on
RTA sales tax receipts retained by the Illinois Department of Revenue.
The findings of the analysis demonstrate that no single funding proposal would be able to
generate sufficient revenue to avert the projected fiscal cliff of $730 million in 2026 for the
existing transit system let alone fund major improvements or expansions to the system that
the public wants to see. The region will need to explore options in these areas and/or pursue
several additional state and local funding mechanisms. To close the financial gap and
support future improvements, the region may also need to pursue dedicated federal
assistance for transit operations.

Figure 8: Estimated Annual Revenue Yield Ranges for Top 11 Revenue Options
Evaluated by 10-Year Financial Plan Working Group

Table 2: Criterion Scores for Top 11 Revenue Options Evaluated by 10-Year Financial
Plan Working Group
Nexus Ease of Projected

with Equitable Administrative Range of
Source Stability Transit Outcomes Implementation Implementation
Increase RTA
Sales Tax Medium Medium Low High 2 years or less
Increase High
State MFT Medium High Low 2 years or less
Implement
Congestion High High Medium Low More than 5 years
Pricing
Expand RTA
Sales Tax on Medium Medium Medium Medium 2 to 5 years
Services
Implement High High Medium Low More than 5 years

VMT Tax
Expand RETT Low Medium Medium Low 2 to 5 years
Increase
Tollway Tolls High High Low High 2 years or less
Increase State Medium Medium Medium High

PTF Match Less than 2 years
Increase
Vehicle
Registration High High Low High 2 years or less
Fee
Increase
Reduced Low High High High 2 years or less
Fare
Reimbursement
End State Medium Medium Medium High

Surcharge 2 years or less

Fare Recovery Ratio
CTA, Metra, and Pace are required by law to generate enough revenue to cover 50% of the regional
transit system’s day-to-day operating budget each year (known as the system-generated revenue
recovery ratio requirement). Pace’s ADA Paratransit is also required to cover 10% of its operational
costs through direct revenue. The Service Boards primarily generate revenue from rider fares, along
with ancillary revenue such as advertising income and the lease of space.
These laws were enacted decades ago, with the thinking that it would ensure that transit riders pay a
“fair share” of the cost of their trip. As of 2022, the RTA’s recovery ratio requirement is unique among
most U.S. transit agencies and the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on ridership have further
demonstrated how unrealistic and overly burdensome the recovery ratio is.
In December 2021, the Illinois General Assembly granted the Service Boards temporary relief from
the recovery ratio requirement through the end of 2023. The RTA believes that a permanent change
to the current statutory recovery ratio requirements is warranted and will enable more equitable
delivery of transit service across the region. The RTA and Service Boards would still be required to
maintain a balanced budget but updating the recovery ratio requirement would codify what the
pandemic has dramatically illustrated and has been echoed by residents we’ve engaged with across
the region—transit is an essential public service that should be provided not to generate revenue, but
as a way to advance our region’s economic viability and future success.
Chicago Region's Fare Recovery Requirement Unique Among U.S. Peers
An informal review of transit systems nationwide revealed few recovery ratio policies similar to the
RTA’s requirements and none that aimed for as high a share of system-generated revenue. The two
systems with formal State requirements most akin to the RTA’s, the Maryland Transit Administration
and Denver’s Regional Transportation District, had their 35% recovery ratio requirements repealed in
2017 and 2021, respectively. New York and California require specific revenue targets to apply for
State transit funding; however, these are significantly more lenient than the RTA requirements.
We Refuse to Let Transit Collapse On Our Watch

Our region is faced with a choice. We can choose to come together and find new, sustainable
ways to fund transit and invest in our region’s future. Or we could face an alternate future
where we fail to act—isolating many of our most vulnerable residents, jeopardizing our
economy, putting our environment in peril, and worsening the inequities across our region.
Failing to invest in the transit system, including in operating funding, will set back the regional
economy, exacerbate labor shortages, worsen education and health outcomes, and leave our
region ill-equipped to face the converging crises of climate change and inequality. The
negative impacts of a significant reduction to transit service would do the most harm to those
least able to absorb additional burdens and have cascading, cross-sectoral ramifications
across the region.
As part of the Strategic Plan project, RTA contracted with Sam Schwartz Consulting and
Cambridge Systematics to conduct a new economic evaluation of RTA’s transit system and
its impact on the Chicago region. Using relevant data such as transit ridership, passenger
miles of travel and travel times, vehicle revenue miles, vehicle revenue hours, average transit
fares by transit mode, as well as information from a literature review, RTA’s consultants
estimated the overall value of the transit service in the Chicago region provided by CTA,
Metra, Pace, and Pace’s paratransit services (RTA Service Boards) in 2022 from several
perspectives.
The consultant analysis estimated that, in total, the RTA’s regional transit system is estimated
to deliver $17.2 billion in regional benefits in 2022, accounting for the agencies’ direct
spending; economic impacts; and transportation, safety, and environmental benefits. For

every dollar we invest in transit, the region and our communities receive $3.86 in overall
benefits.
Figure 9: For Every $1 Invested in the Transit System, the Region Gains $3.86 in
Benefits
Economic Impacts
Transit directly employs thousands of people—from bus drivers to construction workers—but
also spurs additional job growth throughout the economy. The RTA and the Service Boards’
direct payroll, nonpayroll spending, and capital spending ripple throughout the regional
economy and support 126,000 jobs across the region. The consultant estimate concluded
that these jobs create $3.5 billion in wages and the transit system generates an additional
$5.6 billion in regional economic activity. Transit’s economic contributions provide more than
$1 billion in additional tax revenue.
Transit access is also a key differentiator for our region and is a major factor in companies
and talent choosing to locate here. Google’s decision to purchase the Thompson Center in
Chicago’s Loop offers just the latest piece in a long line of evidence. “The Thompson Center
will provide employees with unparalleled public transit access as the only building in the city
where six L train lines converge, easily connecting Chicago’s South, West and North sides”
wrote Google’s Karen Sauder in June 2022. 14
Household impacts
Our transit system provides value to households and families across the region. At the
household level, by promoting mobility and reducing travel costs, the regional transit
system provides $3,800 of benefits per year. The typical household saves more than $300
in transportation expenses and gains over $3,000 through better access to jobs, education,
and healthcare because of our regional transit system.

Figure 10: Average Annual Household Benefits from Transit
Other Benefits , Transportation Cost

$500 Savings, $300
Benefits of transit
for the typical
household Improved Access
$3,800 to Jobs,
Education, and
Healthcare,
$3,000
Societal Impacts
Our regional transit system provides a diverse range of societal benefits that underscore its
critical role for our communities, environment, and economy. If our transit system were shut
down tomorrow, people would drive an estimated 1.7 billion additional miles (which does not
include the additional driving transit reduces by enabling more sustainable land use patterns)
over the course of a year leading to 375,000 metric tons of additional greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions—nearly double the impact of losing all the forest preserves across Cook, DuPage,
Lake, Kane, McHenry, and Will Counties. 15 Transit provides $1 billion in value through
increased productivity and economic output by preventing congestion and lowering
transportation costs. Without transit, the subsequent increases in driving would lead to an
estimated 1,500 more severe traffic crashes resulting in injuries each year.
By providing people access to jobs, education, and services transit connects people to
opportunities, enabling them to learn and develop new skills, earn income, and support their
families. These connections save the region and state $1.5 billion in additional spending on
public assistance programs.
Failing to address the system’s forthcoming funding issues is a choice we cannot afford to
make. In addition to being essential to so many millions of riders, our regional transit system
has the power to address our economic, environmental, and social challenges at a scale
nothing else can. It’s worth preserving and improving for whatever is coming next, and this
document lays out a practical vision and agenda for doing so.
Capital Funding is Stable and Paying Dividends

The Chicago Region boasts one of the largest transit systems in the nation with
approximately 1,500 miles of track, 7,500 vehicles, 400 stations, and 70 maintenance
facilities representing an irreplaceable investment built over generations. This infrastructure
provides over a million transit trips each day and has for decades. The system’s stations,
tracks, and garages need to be maintained and rebuilt to stay competitive and reliable for
today’s travelers and to run cleaner and produce fewer emissions.
The region’s portfolio of transit infrastructure needs an annual investment of $3.5 billion over
the next 10-years to address chronic disinvestment, to achieve a “state of good repair,” to
make improvements to the sustainability of transit, and to improve accessibility, reliability, and
equity. Passenger waiting areas and vehicles need to be modernized to meet current

standards for accessibility, safety, convenience, and comfort. New vehicles with advanced
technology, better safety features and lower emissions are needed to make the ride safer,
cleaner and comfortable. New and upgraded maintenance facilities, control centers, and
training facilities are needed to empower the skilled transit professionals to run an efficient,
21st century transit system. Moreover, reconstruction projects and vehicle purchases have
additional benefits – not only do they improve the transit system – but they support and invest
in maintaining an experienced construction and manufacturing workforce both locally and
across the U.S.
Transit infrastructure is an investment for the future, and recent developments have shown
it’s worth it. The region’s previous strategic plan, Invest in Transit, emphasized the
importance of infrastructure investment for the three transit Service Boards. The plan outlined
the region’s transit capital needs and the region’s first-ever list of transit Priority Projects that
the Service Boards committed to advancing with more funding. Such unity among transit
agencies and transit advocates across our region was a significant tool in advocating for the
enactment of Rebuild Illinois in June 2019 and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act
(IIJA) in November 2021.
Rebuild Illinois Funds End Drought in State Capital Funding – For Now
Prior to the passage of Rebuild Illinois, the RTA system capital program was crawling along
for several years without state funding, kept alive by federal programs, Service Board and
RTA bonds. Rebuild Illinois, the largest capital program in State history, ended the state
capital funding drought and provided much-needed funds to the RTA system with $2.6 billion
over five years in state bond funding and an estimated $227 million annually in gas tax
revenue, referred to as “PAYGO” dollars. The new funding nearly doubled the size of our
region’s previous five‐year transit capital program and has been programmed to advance a
number of key capital initiatives and priority projects previously established by the RTA and
Service Boards. Although the funding infusion is helpful, it is not enough to address the long-
term project backlog; moreover, the source of PAYGO funds is the Motor Fuel Tax, which
could see reductions as electric vehicle become more prevalent in Illinois. As a result, RTA
and the Service Boards will continue to be proactive with the State to ensure that capital
funding is sustained and increased in the coming years.
Meanwhile, a few examples of projects advancing as a result of Rebuild Illinois Bonds
include:
• CTA’s rehab of the 5000-series rail cars and the first phase of the Blue Line Congress
Branch rehabilitation.
• Metra’s purchase of a fleet of new rail cars, which are now in the design phase and
expected in 2025. Additionally, multiple station rehabs along the Metra Electric line are
also currently being designed.
• Pace has completed a new garage in Plainfield to service the I-55 express bus service
and built a new station at the Joliet Gateway Center.
PAYGO projects are primarily focused on addressing state of good repair and other
maintenance needs of the regional transit network. Between 2020 and 2022, $681 million has
been granted to the Service Boards, with another $1.135 billion expected over the next 5
years. Some of the PAYGO projects that have advanced to date include:
• CTA has used $325 million to focus on repair and maintenance projects for buses, rail
cars, elevated track and structure, and facilities. This includes the CTA refresh and renew
program that makes station upgrades system-wide, as well as CTA’s ongoing programs
to extend the life of rail cars and buses. In addition, $31 million is being used to fund new
buses to replace vehicles that are past their useful life.
• Metra has advanced important state of good repair projects including locomotive and rail
car rehabs, yard improvements, platform and shelter improvements, and the purchase of

non-revenue right of way equipment totaling more than $110M. Some key station projects
include 147th St. Sibley, 79th Street – Chatham and 103rd St. – Rosemoor. Metra is in the
process of purchasing new non-revenue vehicles including locomotive cranes, track
excavators, undercutters and track stabilizers to replace vehicles that are beyond their
useful lives.
• Pace, to date, has focused PAYGO projects on improving rider amenities with an
investment of $6 million. This includes improvements at bus stops, including shelters and
benches, as well as deployment of real time bus tracker signage.
Supporting manufacturing and construction jobs

Capital investments to improve transit systems—such as the purchase of new vehicles, construction
of new tracks and busways, and construction of new or upgraded stations—create good paying jobs
and spur economic growth. The American Public Transit Association (APTA) estimates that for every
$1 billion invested in capital improvements for transit, an average of 12,600 jobs are created—many
in construction and manufacturing. 16
Federal Infrastructure Law is Keeping the Construction Projects Flowing

The federal government has also taken significant steps to better fund transit since Invest in
Transit. The IIJA signed into law in November 2021 represents the largest federal investment
in public transportation in U.S. history, with Illinois slated to receive at least $4 billion in
federal funds for public transit over the next five years, the majority of which is distributed by
mandated formulas to state and local transportation departments and transit agencies.
The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) has been clear that equity, climate, and
community engagement are priorities that will shape federal policies and funding awards.
This commitment by the USDOT, the policies in this strategic plan, combined with continued
collaboration among regional entities puts the regional transit projects in strong position to
compete for dollars and allow the Service Boards to make lasting improvements to the transit
system that will be valued for generations. In alignment with these priorities, RTA is working
with the Service Boards to program these funds on a range of projects including station
upgrades, bus electrification, and accessibility improvements.
Approximately $200 billion in discretionary funding is available from IIJA. These funds are
distributed on a competitive basis by USDOT through new and existing programs and are an
important supplement to federal formula funds towards meeting the unmet infrastructure
needs of the region. To maximize the award of these competitive funds, continued
coordination among the region’s transit agencies is valuable. Examples of recent projects
benefiting from federal discretionary funds include:
• In 2022, Pace was awarded a $20 million Rebuilding American Infrastructure with
Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grant for the Harvey Intermodal Transportation Center
project, providing enhancements to the Pace Harvey Transportation Center that will
support new Pulse service and enable electric bus vehicles, and improve pedestrian
access. The Pace Harvey Transportation Center which sees more Pace bus boardings
than any other location in the six-county region and serves one of Illinois’ most historically
disadvantaged communities. The project is a collaborative effort between Metra and
Pace that will provide needed improvements to the Harvey Metra Electric station. When
the project is complete, riders will no longer have to cross four lanes of traffic to transfer
from the train to the bus.
• Core Capacity funding of $165 million for the CTA Red and Purple Modernization
Program (RPM), was received sooner than expected due to the Federal Transit
Administration (FTA) Expedited Project Delivery Pilot Program, which was included in
IIJA. These funds were not expected to be available until 2023 and 2024. The RPM

project, includes reconstruction of four stations to make them fully accessible and a
grade-separated flyover that the CTA estimates will increase capacity in the corridor by
15%, eliminating one of the biggest chokepoints in the system and improving reliability
across lines. These expedited funds are allowing CTA to accelerate the completion
timeline, bringing improved accessibility, modern amenities, and increased service to the
busiest corridor in our system and one of the most densely populated urban areas of the
country.
• State and federal investment will make it possible to modernize the existing system and
build new expansion projects like CTA’s Red Line Extension and Pace’s Pulse Arterial
Rapid Transit network. Investments in track and grade separations will allow Metra to
move toward a Regional Rail model, providing service at more frequent intervals
throughout the day. Following through on these equity, sustainability and resiliency
priorities while also pursuing new funding to deliver on emerging capital priorities is a
large part of the work of the RTA and Service Boards.
Transit is the Answer…Providing Equitable Transportation Investments

Justice40 established by Executive Order 14008 and signed by President Joe Biden in January 2021 is
a “whole government” approach to addressing environmental justice and equity. Justice40 includes a
directive that 40% of benefits generated through federal funding assist disadvantaged communities. 17
The discretionary funding provided through the IIJA and administered by the USDOT and FTA are
subject to the mandate of Justice40.
Administrative Improvements at the RTA and Service Boards are Improving

Transparency and Speeding Up Project Delivery
The region’s transit agencies have been continuously streamlining administrative processes
and ramping up construction pipelines to deliver on large-scale investment. Several
improvements have been made to the efficiency, effectiveness, and transparency of capital
program process since Invest in Transit. These have included:
• Acting quickly to secure grants from funding opportunities to ensure that no funding
commitment goes unutilized.
• Working with local, state, and federal agencies to align funding availability to build and
maintain priority projects with the unique funding resources available.
• Implementing a new performance-based allocation method for federal formula and state
PAYGO funds that incentivizes timely expenditure of funds while also prioritizing
accessibility and equity.
• Developing an analysis of capital projects using the transparent goals and core
requirements, identified in Invest in Transit, to help decision makers and the public
understand how funds are being spent to achieve regional priorities.
• Publishing datasets and maps related to all capital projects to empower public and
stakeholder engagement with the regional capital program.
While these activities make important progress on advancing the capital program, there is
always room for improvement. The Strategic Plan process included opportunities for the
public and stakeholders to weigh in on the capital priorities for the region. This feedback
highlighted a need to provide better understanding of project benefits, and additional
transparency to the project selection process with a greater emphasis on climate impact and
the rider experience. The Priority Projects Technical Working Group made up of experts from
CTA, Metra, Pace, and CMAP considered this input and recommended additional
improvements to the existing programming processes. They agreed to continue updating the

region’s priority project list every year and identified 12 new themes for evaluating capital
projects as they’re added to the regional program that will be operationalized and applied in
the 2023 budgeting process for the 2024 capital program and then measured and tracked
going forward. Each of the evaluation themes will have one or two metrics that will be used to
measure each project.

Table 3: Regional 5-Year Capital Improvement Program Project Evaluation Themes and
Metrics Developed by Priority Project Working Group
Evaluation
Proposed Metrics
Themes
Access to key destinations – the degree to which a project improves

Access to key
regional access to the region’s key destinations. Including jobs, retail,
destinations
healthcare, recreation, and education.
Equity based on residential geography – the distribution of project

Racial equity and
benefits to location(s) identified under the USDOT Justice40
mobility justice
Program.
Economic Economic impact – project impacts on land use and development,

development construction and long-term jobs.
Service speed and reliability – the project impact on maintenance or

Reliability
improvement of service speed and reliability, considering both direct
improvement
and indirect impacts.
Capacity benefit and need – the project impact on overall capacity,

Capacity needs
reflecting current and planned levels of utilization.
Rider and/or employee safety – the project impact to maintenance or

Safety improvement of exposure to risk.
System security - the project impact to security enhancement.
Asset condition – the project impact to ratings from the FTA Transit
Economic Requirements Model (TERM).
State of
good repair Vehicle useful life – the project impact to average vehicle ages,
compared with Service Board benchmarks to prioritize replacing
vehicles that are beyond their useful life.
Ridership/mode shift impacts – the project impact to climate benefits,

such as a reduction in emissions, generated from mode shift to
Climate impact transit and away from private auto-use. Agency operating impacts –
the project impact on reductions or offsets to greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions generated from transit operations.
Customer Benefits to riders - the project’s minor or major benefits to riders and
experience what proportion of the agency’s riders will benefit from it.
Accessibility for people with disabilities - the project improvements to

Accessibility for
existing assets to make them partially or fully accessible. Including
people
station/stop and area improvements, vehicle accessibility, and
with disabilities
accessible communications.
Meet regulatory Regulatory Impact – if required, whether or not the project complies
requirements with federal, state, local, or other regulatory mandates.
Impact on
Operating costs – the project impact on operating costs.
operating costs

More Operating and Capital Funding Is Needed for
Future Adaptation
It is easy to look at northeastern Illinois’s vast network of trains and buses, the millions of
riders it carries, and the thousands who operate it and assume it will always be here – as it
has always seemed to be. It feels like common sense to assume that while it may never be
exactly what we hope it could be, it will always somehow keep running about the way it is
now. That it is, “too big to fail.”
But the facts don’t bear this out. The previous pages lay out the unvarnished truth: without
advocating on the state and federal level and working together to fund transit operations
differently while simultaneously committing to fundamental improvements, our region will hit a
point in late 2025 when it can no longer depend on full transit operations. Drastic service cuts
could follow; further decimating ridership numbers and creating a downward spiral of revenue
and riders. It is a harrowing picture.
A patchwork approach that “bails out” the system but does not address the improvements
that we all know must be made and that fails to lay out a sustained approach to funding that
prioritizes access and equity may work for a year or two – and then would inevitably lead us
back to this same spot.
The region and its residents deserve a public transportation system that works better for
everyone, that is a preferred option for travel because it is efficient, affordable, and
convenient. This plan envisions an unrivaled network of trains and buses across six counties
that connects people to opportunity, attracts economic investment, and serves as the beating
heart of an active mobility network that enhances public health and serves as our greatest
resource in adapting to the impacts of fighting off future challenges of climate change. This
vision is within our grasp.
Transit is the Answer…Combating Climate Change

Our regional transit system is one of if not the strongest tool our region has in the fight against
climate change. Transportation overall accounts for 32% of our region’s total emissions. Emissions
from transportation increased by 2% over the previous decade while emissions from waste and
stationary energy, which includes fossil fuels used in non-transportation applications such as
industrial heat and electricity production, fell by 38% and 11% respectively. The increase in
transportation emissions is a result of the increasing number of miles being driven throughout the
region, which grew at more than double the rate of regional population growth from 2010 to 2019.

Figure 11: Regional Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emission, 2019
Waste
3.4%
Transportation Stationary
31.5% Energy
65.1%
Across the six-county RTA region, public transit accounted for less than 2% of all greenhouse gas
emissions from transportation in 2019, while passenger vehicles were responsible for 59% of overall
transportation greenhouse gas emissions. 18 Transit produces less than half the greenhouse gas
emissions that driving does per passenger mile. In 2018, the regional transit system saved the region
an estimated 3.7 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions (including the benefits of more
sustainable land use patterns enabled by transit), the equivalent of taking one of Illinois’ remaining
coal-fired power plants offline. 19 20 In a world where our regional transit system, and transit-
oriented development around it, did not exist, it is estimated that we would drive 18 billion more
miles annually, 33% more than we do today.
The RTA along with the region’s transit operators, CTA, Metra, and Pace, and hundreds of
stakeholders and partners, who worked together to develop this plan, believe the goals and
actions described on these pages can move us closer to this vision – one that provides all
residents of our region, from the most vulnerable to the most privileged, with safe, swift, and
secure passage.
Critical to achieving this vision will be taking this opportunity – this moment – to forge a
fundamental change in how we fund transit that is less reliant on fares and recognizes the
extraordinary value – the inherent public good – that a well-funded and well managed transit
system brings.
The RTA is committed to change, to acting where we can, to advocating tirelessly where we
cannot act, and to holding ourselves and our partners accountable. We ask those who share
our vision and passion to join us, to provide your wisdom and feedback, and to work with us
in achieving the public transit system we know is possible.

We’re Moving Forward with an
Agenda for Advocacy and Action
Over the next five years, RTA and the Service Boards will simultaneously pursue steps
toward operating and capital funding stability while also improving the system to ensure that it
works better for everyone. The RTA and Service Boards can't accomplish these critical goals
on our own. Leadership from the many elected officials and business and community leaders
we engaged to develop this plan will be needed to make progress. The agencies recognize
and appreciate that stakeholders are ready to stand with us in this pursuit. The Agenda for
Advocacy and Action includes 14 priority areas that are outlined in this document.
Advocacy items include longer-term, substantive changes to how our regional transit system
works, and largely include changes that RTA and the Service Boards need support from
stakeholders to accomplish.
Action items have the potential to be more immediate. They may not be easy but will help
address changing and unmet needs of riders and the communities we serve. These are
things RTA and the Service Boards can take the lead to implement with the support of our
stakeholders.
This agenda provides additional detail related to each Advocacy and Action topic, including
subsections that provide a summary of:
• Why the topic is important including supporting data, case studies, and evidence as to
why it is critical our region advances this area of Advocacy or Action.
• Input provided by Stakeholder Working Groups conducted as a part of the plan process
related to the Advocacy or Action item.
• Highlights of related accomplishments including projects, pilots, and activities that have
been implemented since Invest in Transit.
• Activities that the RTA, CTA, Metra, Pace, and CMAP are taking in 2023 to support
Advocacy and Action Areas. These are outlined for each agency individually or
collectively as relevant; in addition, the items that are listed at the beginning of this plan
as shared regional activities for 2023 are noted.
• In the Action areas there is also a short description of what is possible if the region works
together to pursue more resources – in many cases more funding but also political will,
collective action, and regional capacity.

Advocacy Agenda Detail
This section provides detail on each of the 7 Advocacy items.

• Advocacy Area 1: Secure increased funding for transit operations.
• Advocacy Area 2: Develop a funding structure that is less reliant on rider fares, but
instead focused on expanding access to opportunity.
• Advocacy Area 3: Build a coalition around the value transit brings to the Chicago
region.
• Advocacy Area 4: Support communities’ efforts to improve the area around their transit
stations and stops and pursue equitable transit-oriented development.
• Advocacy Area 5: Engage with communities in an inclusive and transparent way about
how transit dollars are spent in the Chicago region.
• Advocacy Area 6: Secure increased funding for transit infrastructure.
• Advocacy Area 7: Partner with roadway agencies to build more transit-friendly streets
and advance bus rapid transit.

Advocacy Area 1: Secure increased funding for
transit operations.
Why this is Important
Current funding structures, which rely heavily on rider fares, will not be sufficient to keep
transit running at current levels when federal COVID-19 relief dollars run out. Additional
public funding is critical to supporting a strong transit workforce, averting major transit service
reductions, maintaining affordability, and making possible many of the other improvements
suggested by stakeholders and the public through the strategic plan process.
Pandemic-Era Transit Funding Initiatives Across the United States
Despite the pandemic, communities around the U.S. continue to recognize the value of public transit
and support investments to improve and enhance transit. In 2021 voters in a variety of states
approved 11 out of 11 public transit ballot measures, public transit’s first 100% success record at the
ballot box. Voters approved 90% of the transit measures in 2020. These measures are large and small;
state and local; in mega-regions and smaller urban or rural areas; and in both Democrat and
Republican controlled districts. While most of the potential sources for additional transit funding in
our region do not require voter approval, the success of transit measures at the ballot box
demonstrates the broad recognition of transit’s value and underscores the need for our region to
continue investing in our system to maintain competitiveness with peer regions.
Input on this Topic from Stakeholder Working Groups

With an early understanding of the scope and timing of future operating budget deficits, the
stakeholder working groups recommended bold actions to increase and diversify funding
sources. Many of the specific strategies informed the policy solutions in the 10-Year Financial
Plan memo. 21 Additionally, working groups encouraged RTA and the Service Boards to find
new and innovative ways to control expense growth, such as sharing costs through improved
coordination, new technologies, and service partnerships with communities. Working group
members also stressed the importance of finding new ways to maximize non-farebox system
generated revenue.
Highlighted accomplishments related to this advocacy area that have been

completed since adoption of Invest in Transit
• Prior to the pandemic, RTA and the Service Boards annually adopted balanced budgets
funded by RTA Sales Tax, State funding, and fares.
• In 2020, Metra and Pace adapted services and the CTA maintained their service
schedules according to the needs of their core riders, while also increasing spending on
cleaning and eliminating fare collection. RTA allocated funds from the first federal relief
package and put in place a Three-Step COVID Recovery process to provide funding
stability to them during that period.
• In 2021, RTA allocated $486.1 million and $1.97 billion of funds from the second and
third federal relief bills, respectively. RTA secured the discontinuation of the 5% State
Public Transportation Fund (PTF) cut effective July 2021, adding more than $20 million
per year in funding for operations. RTA sales tax was implemented on more online
transactions effective in January 2021, adding more than $100 million per year in funding
for operations.

• In 2022, the RTA commissioned a 10-year financial plan as a part of this strategic plan
project that made longer term projections that have led to the development of this report
and the finding that the current funding structure reliant upon fares is no longer viable
when federal relief dollars run out in 2025.
Advocacy work that the RTA will undertake with stakeholders in 2023
• The RTA and Service Boards will work together with other stakeholders to execute a
broad public outreach campaign of education on transit funding and continue to engage a
coalition that will secure new, sustainable, ongoing funding. (Shared regional activity for
2023)
• The RTA will collaborate with regional partners to identify funding options and develop
revenue proposals for the Illinois General Assembly in 2024. (Shared regional activity for
2023)

Advocacy Area 2: Develop a funding structure that
is less reliant on rider fares, but instead focused on
expanding access to opportunity.
Chicagoland’s public transit system contributes to our region’s economic, environmental, and
social health in ways and at a scale that nothing else can. With more resources and a funding
structure less reliant on fares, the Service Boards could focus on enhancing service and
providing transit coverage across the region which broadens access to areas that have been
historically underserved. This would also allow the region to innovate with different fare levels
and models, such as seamless transfers or free or reduced rides for residents experiencing
low incomes.
Survey of Fare Recovery Requirements Among U.S. Peers

CTA, Metra, and Pace are required by law to bring in enough revenue to cover 50% of the regional
transit system’s day-to-day operating budget each year (known as the system-generated revenue
recovery ratio requirement). Pace’s ADA Paratransit is also required to cover 10% of its operational
costs through direct revenue. The Service Boards primarily generate revenue from rider fares, along
with ancillary revenue such as advertising income and lease of space. An informal review of transit
systems nationwide revealed few recovery ratio policies similar to the RTA’s requirements and none
that aimed for as high a share of system-generated revenue. The two systems with formal State
requirements most akin to the RTA’s, the Maryland Transit Administration and Denver’s Regional
Transportation District, had their 35% recovery ratio requirements repealed in 2017 and 2021,
respectively. New York and California require specific revenue targets to apply for State transit
funding; however, these are significantly more lenient than the RTA’s requirement of 50% of
operating funds coming from system generated revenue (primarily fares paid by riders).

Stakeholder working groups articulated a clear need to develop an equity-based funding
structure to allow the Service Boards to enhance transit affordability while lowering reliance
on fares to balance operating budgets. Specific discussion topics included seeking greater
RTA autonomy in the distribution of capital and operating funds; studying and piloting
programs to eliminate fares as barrier for access; and working with social services to better
understand riders’ unmet mobility needs.

• The current funding structure is limiting in many ways, but prior to the pandemic RTA and
the Service Boards adopted balanced budgets that met all statutory requirements,
including the Fare Recovery Ratio.
• In 2020, the RTA Board approved inclusion of the Service Boards’ drawdown of federal
relief dollars as a revenue credit for the purpose of temporarily achieving the statutory
recovery ratio.
• In 2021, RTA advocated for temporary relief from the statutory recovery ratio, which was
granted for 2021, 2022, and 2023.

• In 2022, RTA commissioned a 10-year Financial Plan group as a part of the strategic
plan that concluded that the current statutory recovery ratio needs to be reduced or
eliminated.
• The RTA and Service Boards will work together with the Illinois General Assembly to
obtain continued recovery ratio relief while developing permanent funding structural
reform. (Shared regional activity for 2023)
• RTA will work with regional historians, researchers, and other experts to develop
materials to educate elected officials, policy makers, and key stakeholders utilizing a
variety of platforms on the institutional history of how and why the RTA and Service
Boards exist today, how peer and non-peer regions fund transit, and how we might
envision a system less focused on maximizing fare revenue and instead focused on
maximizing access to opportunity through more equitable fare policies and services.

Advocacy Area 3: Build a coalition around the
value transit brings to the Chicago region.
Public agencies in the United States have been under pressure from advocates and riders to
update outreach and decision-making methods for decades. The pandemic and the social
movements following the murder of George Floyd in 2020 have led many agencies –
including RTA – to reconsider how to effectively engage with taxpayers and riders. This has
led to a number of changes in the way that RTA has involved stakeholders, including
intentionally inviting a broader and more diverse group of voices to participate in projects and
making compensation available to people who do; expanding our communications channels
and following to ensure that our work is shared as broadly as possible; and, increasing
staffing and resources in governmental and external affairs.
What our riders value about transit

One of the key questions the RTA has consistently posed in our conversations with riders and
residents of the region over the last 18 months is “Why do you value transit?” We heard a lot about
the measurable and harder to quantify value that transit brings to our region. Transit gives freedom
and independence to people with limited mobility or who don’t own or have access to a car. Transit
connects our communities and is a place where people from all walks of life come together. These
unquantifiable benefits—how transit shapes the character of our communities and our region—
support the value that we can put into numbers—the emissions reduced, the economic impacts, the
savings for households and families.
The RTA will need partners from across the spectrum of businesses, riders, and communities
we serve to join in a campaign to change the way our region thinks about and funds transit.

Stakeholder working groups recommended finding new ways to quantify the impact transit
has on equitable access to opportunity, climate action, safety, public health, and economic
development. Working groups also recommended new and innovative approaches in
measuring performance such as benchmarking with non-traditional peers and seeking best
practices to adopt from other agencies and regions.

• The work of developing the Strategic Plan in 2022 included many forms of outreach and
stakeholder working groups, as described in the Stakeholder Process and
Engagement Summary Document. This work made it clear to RTA that a wide variety
of stakeholders want to be more involved in strategic planning work. The same work has
also made it clear to RTA that any lasting change in transit or transit funding cannot be
done in isolation but must involve a broad coalition of stakeholders with overlapping and
unique interests.
• RTA will activate partners to collaborate on this Agenda through plan endorsement and
opportunities to join a coalition that will advocate for increased public investment in
transit.

Advocacy Area 4: Support communities’ efforts to
improve the area around their transit stations and
stops and pursue equitable transit-oriented
development.
Encouraging transit-friendly policies and investment in walking and biking infrastructure for
the more than 200 communities within the RTA region will help improve transportation for all.
Equitable transit-oriented development (ETOD) is development that enables all people
regardless of race, ethnicity, income, gender, age, immigration status or ability to experience
the benefits of dense, mixed-use, pedestrian-oriented development near transit. History has
shown that equitable transit-oriented development is particularly important in mitigating the
effects of gentrification, and the impact that inequal housing costs can have on our
communities.
74% of households and 78% of jobs across the region are located within a ½ mile of transit
and 33% of households and 32% of jobs are within a ½ mile of full-day, frequent transit (I.e.,
routes that arrive every 15 minutes or less from 7 a.m. – 10 p.m.). 22 RTA offers two programs
that provide funding and technical assistance for local governments across northeastern
Illinois to create and implement plans that support transit ridership, meet community
economic development needs, expand job and housing accessibility, and improve the overall
transit experience. The RTA has invested over $22 million in local planning initiatives and
collaborated on 219 projects through the Community Planning program, which has helped
local governments plan for multi-modal, pedestrian friendly, sustainable communities near
transit stations and along transit corridors. The Access to Transit program was created in
1998 to provide funding for local governments to construct small-scale pedestrian and bicycle
infrastructure projects — such as sidewalks, crosswalks, bike racks, and pedestrian crossing
signals — that improve access to transit services. The program has leveraged $2.7 million in
RTA funding to secure $12.3 million in federal funding for 38 projects in communities across
the region.
Even with these programs, there is still work to be done across the region in continuing to
maximize the value of transit and to making sure that there is equitable access to affordable
housing near transit.
Land use and zoning regulations are critical to supporting transit ridership and equitable
transit-oriented development, but are often out of the control of the Service Boards. Individual
communities play a big role in supporting transit through their own land use and zoning
decisions around transit facilities and support ongoing regional efforts through CMAP
programs and initiatives and Pace’s transit supportive development engagement program.
Microtransit — the shared programs like bikeshare, scootershare and ride-hailing
transportation that supplement traditional fixed-route service — is one way to help fill first and
last mile gaps in low-density areas. Microtransit presents an opportunity to connect housing
and workplaces to existing fixed-route transit, and should be explored by communities to
extend access to opportunities for people without cars. That said, microtransit will never
provide the transit-supportive environment that is achieved through policies that encourage
higher-density development and strong pedestrian connections.

Stakeholder working groups proposed continuing many of the existing RTA efforts to work
with communities to plan for transit supportive development at and around stations and stops,
and ways to directly engage with residents and riders in how best to improve access to

transit. Additionally, working groups pressed for the creation of more units of affordable,
accessible, multi-family housing (equitable transit-oriented development, or ETOD) while
preventing displacement of current residents from transit-rich neighborhoods and
communities.

• RTA’s Access to Transit program has provided funding for 61 planning and technical
assistance projects in communities throughout the region to support transit-oriented
development corridor plans, zoning and financing plans, neighborhood mobility hubs and
curb management, developer dialogues as well as engineering and construction projects
to address safety and expand mobility for all, and advancing transit-supportive land uses.
• RTA’s Community Planning program has broadened eligibility in the last five years to
include: curb management plans; neighborhood mobility hubs; mobility improvement
plans; and special financing districts. These categories were added in response to
changing needs in the region and in the field of transit-oriented development and transit
planning. Communities with high need are given priority during project selection and
provide a local match based on need.
• As part of the 2022 Community Planning program, the RTA piloted additional funding to
applicants of moderate and high need to remove barriers to community engagement. The
funding can be used to directly compensate individual residents or members of
community-based organizations for giving their time and expertise for participating in
project meetings and reviewing documents. Funding can also be used to provide services
for public meetings to help residents overcome obstacles that may prevent them from
participating such as travel expenses, providing meals, or childcare. This new
compensation model was officially included as part of 2023 Call for Projects.
• RTA's Access to Transit Program added a new eligible project category to assist
communities with high needs (scarce resources and limited technical capacity) by using
RTA funds to pay 100% of Phase 1 Engineering. This change in eligible project category
removes a major barrier for communities by funding projects from the beginning design
while still offering resources for construction. Since 2020 eight of these projects have
been funded. Local match for construction projects is determined based on need. For
most projects, the 20% local match required by federal funding sources is shared equally
between the RTA and the applicant. The RTA covers the full 20% match for applicants of
high need.
• RTA will proactively work with communities to apply and participate in RTA’s and CMAP’s
funding programs to build more transit-friendly neighborhoods. This will include promoting
equitable transit-oriented development, creating plans to construct mobility hubs, and
curb management plans making it safer and easier for people to walk and bike to transit
stations and stops and to better align with existing economic and workforce development
efforts.
• RTA will update the Setting the Stage for Transit report, to set standards for communities
that host transit services and hold them accountable for land-use decisions and
improving access to transit to ensure that our riders can travel safely and efficiently.

Advocacy Area 5: Engage with communities in an
inclusive and transparent way about how transit
dollars are spent in the Chicago region.
The RTA is committed to cultivating relationships between riders and transit agencies with
two-way engagement that empowers communities’ role in transit decision making.

Stakeholder working groups suggested strategies to increase transparency and
communications with communities regarding transit funding and spending. This included
articulating needed and desired information on transit investment in easily understood
language and accessible formats, evaluating current outreach efforts to identify ways to
improve, and developing community advisory groups to provide feedback and build further
capacity for community input in all elements of transit planning.

• The RTA has made several changes to increase the transparency and usability of data
coming from the annual regional transit operating budget and capital program process.
• The RTA budget book was redesigned for communication and evaluation of proposed
Service Board operating budgets and capital programs. The capital budget is published
on RTAMS, RTA’s website for accessing extensive data resources about the regional
transit system, and provides analysis related to Invest in Transit including Priority
Projects, Core Requirements and Strategic Goals. RTA’s Project Management Oversight
(PMO) program monitors the progress of projects in the capital program.
• RTA launched a financial results online dashboard in April 2022 that displays an overview
of financial data monitored by the RTA compared to adopted budgets.
• RTA’s Board meetings are open to the public virtually and in-person and are
livestreamed. Significant updates were made to the RTA website in 2021 and 2022 to
make Board agendas, memos, minutes, and recordings easy to find and view.
• In 2021, RTA updated the RTAMS website, including adding a new mapping and GIS
portal, providing downloadable datasets, and making the site faster, mobile friendly, and
more interactive and transparent.
• In 2022, stakeholder working groups indicated that even more transparency is needed.
• RTA will expand the role of the RTA Citizen Advisory Board (RTACAB) to strengthen the
rider voice in transit planning and decision making. The RTACAB will help track progress
toward the goals of strategic plan.

Advocacy Area 6: Secure increased funding for
transit infrastructure.
Capital needs, the money required to maintain and invest in new infrastructure, such as
vehicles and stations, are significant. Capital funding comes primarily from the federal
government, through grants administered by the Federal Transit Administration, and,
periodically, from bonds – borrowed money -- issued by the State of Illinois or directly by the
RTA and the Service Boards. Unlike our operating funds, which come primarily from
local/state taxes and farebox revenue, these federal funds are provided by annual
appropriations or by legislation passed by Congress, such as the recent IIJA. While the
federal infrastructure investments are critical to meeting the capital needs of the region,
additional sustainable funding is needed to address decades of underinvestment and
respond to changing post-COVID rider needs. Historically, roadway agencies have received
significantly more money for transportation projects than transit agencies, but the economic,
equity, and climate benefits of transit suggest that a change should occur to how funding is
allocated.
The Service Boards demonstrate, on an annual basis, the great need for additional capital
infusions. The region’s 2022 capital program identified 75 Priority Projects for the next 10
years with a total cost of $36.2 billion. 23 The 2022-2026 5-year capital program only funds
14.5% of this total 10-year need, with only four of the projects fully funded. Important projects
to maintain and transform the regional transportation system are delayed as the Service
Boards work to put funding strategies together to advance key projects.
• CTA has been able to advance the first phase of the Red Purple modernization, but
another $6.0 billion is needed to complete the project and bring the Red Line North into a
state of good repair. CTA is also planning to extend the Red Line south to 130th Street, a
major investment for transportation equity in our region. CTA has advanced this $3.6
billion project in the federal New Starts program and is currently working to establish
resources for a local funding match.
• Metra is continuing to work on replacing bridges along the Union Pacific (UP) North line,
which has bridges dating to the 1800’s. The initial set of bridges crossing over 11 streets
have been replaced, and Metra is working on securing over $100 million in additional
funding to complete the next set of bridges. Another key project, the A-2 interlocker,
which will untangle the UP and Milwaukee District lines and save commuters significant
time, is unfunded and will require over $750 million to be designed and constructed.
• Pace is preparing for the transformation of its bus fleet and support facilities to cleaner
energy sources. Pace has been able to program nearly $270 million to date but more
funding will be needed to expediate the transition to a cleaner future.
Chicago is not investing as much per resident in its transit system as peers
Annually our region spends $281 per resident for our transit system. $96 of those dollars go towards
capital improvements to maintain and improve the system, and $185 go toward funding the system’s
day-to-day operations. 24 Traditional regional peers, such as Washington D.C. and New York are
annually spending 34% - 141% more per capita on transit, while Seattle spends over 300% more per
capita than the Chicago region.

Figure 12: Annual Capital Expenditures and Operating Funding Expenditures per
Regional Resident in Chicago and Several Peer Regions, 2020
$1,194
$677
$377
$361
$250 $281
$236
Philadelphia Los Angeles Chicago Boston Washington New York Seattle

D.C
Capital Expenditures Operating Funding

Stakeholder working groups recognized the need to invest in maintaining the system in a
state of good repair, while distributing funds equitably and taking steps to modernize and
improve the user experience. To that end, transit should receive an increased share of total
transportation funding, additionally, highway congestion reduction programs should be
broadened to include transit whenever possible. Grant programs should be structured to
enable smaller and under-resourced communities to tap into available funds and ensure that
we equitably balance the needs of different markets and communities. Additionally, legislation
should be advanced to require transit infrastructure be provided by employment centers and
that transit value-capture mechanisms be distributed equitably.

• The State of Illinois enacted the Rebuild Illinois Capital Plan in 2019, the first State of
Illinois capital bill in more than a decade and the largest in Illinois history that provided
the RTA system with $2.6 billion over five years in state bond funding and an estimated
$227 million annually in gas tax revenue.
• Transit Tax Increment Financing (Transit TIF) was enabled by the State of Illinois and the
City of Chicago in 2016. The program is expected to generate $622 million in local
matching funds for the CTA Red Purple Modernization project. 25 A Transit TIF is also
proposed for the Red Line Extension project, to fund a significant share of the local
funding.
• The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) was signed into law in November 2021.
The program is a significant investment in the nation’s transit infrastructure, with
northeast Illinois slated to receive at least $4 billion in federal funds for public transit over
the next five years, over 40% more than in the previous 5 years. 26

• RTA and the Service Boards have continued updating the Invest in Transit Priority
Project List to articulate changes in need as well as new regional priorities, such as bus
electrification, each year during the budget process.
• RTA will work with the Service Boards to continue to update the regional Priority Project
list to communicate to stakeholders and the public the acute need for sustained capital
investment to both maintain and improve the system.
• RTA will conduct a specialized analysis of the regional capital program to show the
impacts of Rebuild Illinois funds and other funding sources to elected officials and others
who have made this funding possible.
• RTA will introduce a new project evaluation system, that will transparently provide
information on 12 themes in order to better communicate regional importance and impact
of the projects that are advancing in the 5-year capital improvement program.
Why does it matter?

Our regional transit system encompasses approximately 1,500 miles of tracks, 7,500 vehicles, 400
stations, and 70 maintenance facilities worth more than $60 billion. This portfolio of transit
infrastructure needs an annual investment of $2-3 billion over the next 10 years to address chronic
disinvestment and to get into a “state of good repair,” or a condition where the infrastructure is not
at risk of failure or impeding the provision of quality transit service to customers.
Figure 13: Projected Percentage of Regional Transit Assets Exceeding Useful Life from
2015-2035

In addition to transit’s myriad social and environmental benefits, transit investments can have
substantial economic benefits. The American Public Transit Association (APTA) estimates that for
every $1 billion invested in public transit, 50,000 jobs are created or sustained. 27 The employment
benefits are even greater in communities with high unemployment. APTA research also shows that
every dollar invested in public transit has approximately a five-fold return on investment over twenty
years. The returns they measure include direct impacts of investment spending as well as productivity
benefits such as increased business productivity, reduced traffic congestion, and user cost savings.
Measuring these types of benefits has been a growing priority of federal policy.

Advocacy Area 7: Partner with roadway agencies
to build more transit-friendly streets and advance
bus rapid transit.
Dedicated space on roads for Pace and CTA buses is critical to improving speed and
reliability. It will take a coalition to inspire the political will within the highway and road
agencies to build more transit-friendly streets and bus rapid transit (BRT) in the Chicago
region. Since the start of the pandemic, both CTA and Pace bus modes have retained more
riders than rail modes in our region. Buses often carry people more reliant upon transit and
play a critical role in connecting neighborhoods in areas lacking access to the rail network.
Furthermore, transit-friendly streets not only move buses more quickly, but they can
strengthen and safen all modes and contribute to the development of complete streets for all
users.
In recent years bus speed, reliability, and ridership have declined with growing congestion on
local streets and competition with ride-hailing services. Transit-friendly streets can help free
buses from congestion and give buses well-deserved priority over single-occupancy vehicles.
With more resources, RTA, the Service Boards, and roadway agencies could build more
widespread Transit Signal Priority and BRT corridors. In addition, more cultural and political
support is needed to meaningfully expand BRT in the Chicago Region.

Stakeholder working groups recommended advocating for the prioritization of transit over
cars when allocating street space, advancing legislative measures to allow camera
enforcement of dedicated bus lanes, and working with local communities to ensure transit is
prioritized during long-term roadway construction projects. Working groups also focused on
activating partners in local government, business, and advocacy communities to build support
for BRT projects.

• RTA has continued to work with Pace, CTA, and Chicago Department of Transportation
(CDOT) to implement Transit Signal Priority (TSP). CTA and CDOT implemented TSP on
Western Avenue between Howard Street and 79th Street. They are currently designing
TSP improvements for Ashland Avenue between Irving Park Road and Cermak Road
(2019).
• Pace implemented TSP on Milwaukee Avenue, between Golf Road and Jefferson Park
Transit Center, as part of the Pulse Milwaukee Line project. After completion of TSP
testing on Milwaukee Avenue in early 2021, Pace began implementing TSP on other
corridors beginning with Dempster Street and Roosevelt Road (2022).
• Pace’s Driving Innovation plan includes initiatives supporting transit friendly roadway
design including Rapid Transit programs, Transit-Supportive Development Engagement
and Tactical Transit Pilots.
• Pace has advanced several Pulse Corridors. Pulse Milwaukee Line has been
implemented. Pulse Dempster Line is under construction. Pulse Halsted Line and Pulse
95th Street Line are being designed. RTA has worked with Pace to implement TSP in
conjunction with Pulse service on all of these corridors.

• RTA and the Service Boards are participating in the Illinois Department of Transportation
(IDOT) and CDOT redesign of North DuSable Lake Shore Drive and continue to
advocate for alternatives that prioritize transit. 28
• CTA and CDOT are completing the Better Streets for Buses project to lay the groundwork
for ongoing bus infrastructure improvements by establishing a network of corridors to
prioritize and a toolbox of street treatments to consider as solutions to facilitate faster,
more reliable bus service and improve the bus riding experience (2022). 29
• CDOT Strategic Plan for Transportation set a goal to “Partner with CTA to reduce
commute times and improve the transit experience for all Chicagoans” including
benchmarks of installing 2-3 permanent bus lane projects, installing an additional 100
transit signal priority intersections, increasing in-house transit planning and
implementation capacity, and making station access improvements to 5 CTA stations and
1 Metra station by year three of the plan horizon (2021). 30
• CDOT Strategic Plan for Transportation set a goal of “Make it safer and easier to walk in
Chicago” including strategies of reviewing and revising the Complete Streets Policy and a
benchmark of partnering with CTA and Metra to identify transit access goals and priority
locations (2021). 31
• IDOT Long Range Transportation Plan set an objective to “Invest in and support
multimodal transportation infrastructure improvements and strategic performance-based
expansion of services that support the effective movement of passengers” including
strategies to implement signal prioritization and improving multimodal corridors via bus
rapid transit, bus-only/managed lanes, bicyclist signals or express bus (2019). 32
• In 2022, working group members noted to RTA that this is an important area of advocacy.
Moreover, the strategic plan survey conducted in fall 2022, indicated that this was in the
top 3 most urgent advocacy areas.
• RTA will continue to advance Regional TSP Implementation work and can make
available grant funding to assist agencies to hire staff and consultants as needed to
implement TSP.
• RTA will work to advance BRT implementation across the region by funding and
supporting corridor planning projects and by advocating for IDOT, CDOT, county DOTs
and local government agencies to champion bus projects, improve their arterial roadway
design, and to secure more dedicated space on regional roads in order to bring the
region more in-line with peer regions in Transit Way Mileage.
• RTA will work to advance bus lane camera enforcement legislation, recommended by
Working Groups.
• Pace will identify priority corridors for expansion of Pulse routes as part of their Network
Revitalization and Systemwide Restructuring Initiative.
• CTA will work with CDOT and other partners to implement recommendations of Better
Streets for Buses study.
• CMAP will work with regional transportation stakeholders to:

o Strengthen the implementation of Complete Streets through legislation, guidance and
technical assistance, with State and local partners.
o Update the Congestion Management plan in 2023.
o Advance Mobility Recovery recommendations on BRT, dedicated transit
infrastructure, and other tools to improve bus speed and reliability.

o Seek categorical safety exemptions for transit/bus improvements on roadway - to
speed up project delivery.
The Benefits of BRT

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is an enhanced bus service characterized by features like dedicated lanes,
transit signal priority, off-board fare payment, high frequencies, limited-stop service, raised-platform
boarding, and distinct branding. These features are meant to make bus service more efficient and
reliable, like rail rapid transit systems with a much lower capital cost. BRT projects around the U.S.
have led to significant improvements in travel times, with some of the most effective projects cutting
travel times in half for riders. 33 Individual elements of BRT are often used in a tactical manner to
improve operations when fully overhauling a corridor is not feasible. BRT deployments have been
shown to attract substantially increased bus ridership — ranging from increases of 20% to nearly
doubling ridership — and analysis from CMAP has illustrated the potential for significant impact in
our region. 34,35 Bus services in the RTA region that incorporate features of BRT include the Loop Link,
the Pulse Milwaukee Line, the Jeffery Jump, and Bus-on-Shoulder express services.
BRT in the Chicago Region
Compared with peer regions, the Chicago region dedicates very little roadway space for public transit.
Transit agencies serving cities like Los Angeles, Seattle, Miami, Minneapolis, Houston, and Phoenix all
have over 100 miles of transit-only or transit-priority roadway lanes. Chicago has less than 15 lane
miles in this category (before counting “bus-on-shoulder” corridors.) Fortunately, the region’s transit
agencies are advocating for transit-priority roadway designs through efforts like CTA’s Better Streets
for Buses and Pace’s Rapid Transit Program, which includes Pulse and Bus-on Shoulder express bus
programs, but our region will need to work collectively to accelerate and fund these projects to catch
up with peer regions.
One local success has been Pace’s Bus-on-Shoulder operations, which have now been operating for
11 years. This program has demonstrated how interagency partnerships that prioritize transit can
attract substantial ridership growth. Shoulder riding was first authorized along certain sections of I-55
(the Stevenson Expressway) in 2011 as a two-year pilot. The program was made possible through
state legislation and a partnership between IDOT, State Police, RTA, and Pace. Pace reported that
ridership in the I-55 corridor grew faster than anywhere else in the region, requiring new Park-n-Ride
facilities and an expanded fleet.
Since 2011, the program has been made permanent and expanded to include the shoulder of I-94 and
the Flex Lane of I-90. The Illinois Tollway has partnered with Pace to facilitate these expansions. Plans
are also in place for buses to use new Flex Lanes along I-294.
Pace also launched the Pulse Milwaukee Line in 2019 after extensive coordination with stakeholders
including the Village of Niles, the City of Chicago, and IDOT. Pulse Halsted Line and Pulse 95th Street
Line are also being designed. The Pulse program is a form of rapid transit that features frequent
limited-stop service, branded vehicles, raised platforms for faster boarding, and accessible stations
with vertical markers, real-time information, heated shelters, and snow-melt systems. Pace’s second
Pulse corridor, the Dempster Line, is currently under construction. Several other planned Pulse
corridors are in various stages of design and planning.
What we can learn from other regions
Examples of BRT projects from other regions around the country underscore the importance of
coordination between transit agencies, the agency that manages the street, and other stakeholders
to successfully implement BRT; demonstrate BRT projects’ impacts on ridership and travel times; and
highlight how BRT projects can improve safety and mobility for people walking and biking on these
corridors.
In the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area, Metro Transit (the main transit operator and a division of the
region’s Metropolitan Planning Organization) currently operates 4 BRT lines, including one operating

in lanes and stations constructed by the Minnesota Department of Transportation along I-35W. These
lines were first studied in 2011-2012, resulting in the implementation of the METRO A Line in 2016
and the METRO C Line in 2019. Metro A Line saw ridership increase by about one-third compared to
2015. 36 Metro Transit is opening 4 additional lines between 2022 and 2025.
Metro Transit recently used a four-step process for identifying the next BRT priorities, based on four
principles that guided the planning process for BRT, rooted in public engagement, Metropolitan
Council transit policy, and the performance of the bus network:
Advance equity and reduce regional racial disparities
Build on success to grow ridership
Design a network that supports a transit-oriented lifestyle
Ensure the long-term sustainable growth of the bus network
As a result and pending funding, three additional lines would be operational by 2030; seven
additional corridors studied in Network Next remain candidates for BRT between 2030 and 2040.
Opened in April 2022, the Van Ness Bus Rapid Transit system is a nearly 2-mile dedicated bus corridor
on Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco, one of the busiest north-south corridors in San Francisco
serving over 16,000 SFMTA customers daily. It is San Francisco and the San Francisco Municipal
Transportation Agency’s (SFMTA) first BRT project. The BRT corridor uses dedicated center-running
bus lanes (as opposed to curbside lanes) and was part of a larger $346 million Van Ness Improvement
Project, which was funded by FTA Formula Funds and a mix of local, regional, and state funding.
In addition to improving transit speed and reliability, the project also aimed to increase pedestrian
safety, improve access to transit, and enhance the public realm. Bulb-outs (also called curb-
extensions) and median refuge spaces shorten crossing distances for pedestrians and passengers
alike. Improved, extended, and accessible countdown signals are now located at every crosswalk and
at the locations for boarding platforms. Enhanced traffic signals with Transit Signal Priority give buses
the green light as they approach an intersection, lessening travel time and improving on-time
performance. Newly paved and expanded sidewalks, bright lighting, natural landscaping, and public
art all contribute to creating a vibrant corridor.
While the project was long in the making, the Van Ness BRT has brought immediate results in
boosting ridership and bus travel times. Just one month after its launch, the BRT is operating closer to
light-rail transit speeds and saving weekday riders around 35% in travel time—about 15 minutes on a
full round trip. The project has also led to more reliable travel times for riders. The sole line currently
operating on the Van Ness BRT, 49-Van Ness/Mission, saw a 13% boost in ridership. 37 City officials
hope the success of the Van Ness BRT will influence similar projects to improve the transit riding
experience and bring riders back to the system.

Action Agenda Detail
This section describes each of the 7 Action items in more detail.

• Action 1: Make the transit system safer and more secure for everyone.
• Action 2: Use new funding as a catalyst to create a fully accessible transit system.
• Action 3: Provide more accurate, real-time travel information for riders.
• Action 4: Make paying for transit more seamless and more affordable.
• Action 5: Accelerate the transition to a near-zero emission regional transit system and
prioritize communities burdened by poor air quality.
• Action 6: Assess the regional capital program in a new way including considerations for
racial equity and mobility justice.
• Action 7: Adapt bus and rail service to meet the changing needs of riders.

Action 1: Make the transit system safer and more
secure for everyone.
All riders need to feel safe riding transit. A safe and secure system is also necessary to
attract, retain, and protect a talented transit workforce. While the transit system is part of a
larger regional ecosystem with other economic and societal trends at play, there are several
steps the Service Boards can take to improve safety, work with community partners, and
communicate about disruptions on the transit system. These steps include non-security
related safety issues that are equally important to educating riders on safe practices while
using transit.

The stakeholder working groups focused on improving the ways in which riders can
communicate with operators and law enforcement when experiencing a safety issue, such as
adding reporting capability to the Ventra app as well as suggesting improvements to
cleanliness and lighting of transit stations and facilities. In response to perceived and actual
increases in rates of crime on transit, working group members pushed for justice-centered
approaches to violence reduction, such as affordable housing, mental health care, and living
wages.
Highlighted accomplishments related to this action that have been completed

since adoption of Invest in Transit
• More than 2,000 new HD cameras have been installed at nearly 60 stations across the
Red, Blue, Brown, Green, Orange, and Pink lines as part of Safe and Secure, the CTA’s
multi-year, multi-faceted program to modernize and further expand its extensive
surveillance camera network (2021). 38
• CTA expanded the use of contracted security services by adding more than 50 K-9 new
security patrols (canine with two handlers) at targeted locations throughout the rail and
bus system (2022). 39
• CTA was awarded $14.8 million through the Department of Homeland Security’s Transit
Security Grant Program to fund transit-related security initiatives and activity in
collaboration with Chicago Police Department (2020). 40
• Metra Police Department significantly increased the frequency of station checks on the
system (2020, 2021).
• Metra conducted 51 “Operation Lifesaver Safety Blitzes” at train stations in 2022 as part
of its ongoing efforts to raise awareness of the importance of safe behavior around its
trains and tracks. 41
• Metra developed the COPS smartphone app to allow riders to report safety and security
issues on Metra trains and facilities (2019).

Table 4: RTA, Service Board, and CMAP Activities to Support Action 1 in 2023
Agency 2023 Activities to Support this Action
• The agencies will work together to convene a cross-sector and cross-

Shared regional safety and security summit to facilitate information sharing and
Activities explore holistic solutions to the challenges affecting transit. (Shared
regional activity for 2023)
RTA • Lead development of summit described in Shared Activities
• Expand security guard deployments to strategic overnight locations and

identify other security guard units to augment existing deployments and
officer patrols.
• Strengthen and expand partnerships with local Police Departments.
CTA • Track and communicate progress through monthly board meeting
updates on Meeting the Moment Action Plan Key Performance
Indicators.
• Develop new ways to deter fare theft and prevent fare evasion before it
leads to other illicit activity.
• Advance a package of improvements at 13 Metra Electric stations over

the next five years will include safety improvements.
• Conduct training with front-line staff to identify individuals experiencing a
mental health crisis and will continue to advance Operation Lifesaver.
Metra • In conjunction with CMAP and the counties of northeastern Illinois,

initiate a regional safety action plan with a focus on grade crossing
safety to improve safety at the highest incident locations in the Metra
system.
• Install cameras at stations and complete installing cameras in cars and
locomotives.
• Improve investments in cameras (on board vehicle and at facilities);

Pace improved security for equipment at facilities.
• Provide a list of proposed improvements with staff training.
• Provide technical assistance to local partners to improve safety,

CMAP mobility, and connectivity through the Safe and Complete Streets
program.
What we as a region could do with more resources

With more funding, RTA and the Service Boards could add staff to be present at stations and
on vehicles, to work with people, to observe safe riding norms, and compassionately
deescalate safety situations before they become harmful. Additional resources from the state
to social service agencies could help to address root causes issues that spill over into transit.

What are we doing about it?
Metra’s Operation Lifesaver program is one of the agency’s key outreach programs to educate the
public about the importance of safety. Through the program, Metra conducts about 1,000 free
presentations across the region annually for schoolchildren, school bus drivers, truck drivers,
emergency responders and other organizations. Metra’s safety team also conducts about 50 safety
blitzes at stations throughout the system each year to help promote rail safety awareness and
prevent fatalities and injuries. Metra also has developed internal training programs to better equip
staff to deal with riders and members of the public who may be in crisis.

Action 2: Use new funding as a catalyst to create a
fully accessible transit system.
All buses and trains on the region’s transit system are already ADA accessible, but the
stations and infrastructure around transit still may create barriers for some riders. The RTA
and Service Boards will continue dedicating funding toward accessibility improvements and
work with partners to create accessible connections to transit.

Stakeholder working groups recommended establishing a dedicated funding source for
capital projects addressing ADA improvements and guiding investments by expanding CTA’s
All Stations Accessibility Program with a regional accessibility plan. Working groups also
suggested making paratransit services accessible to all, including those who cannot transfer
from their mobility devices, and improving sidewalks, pedestrian crossings, and access to
developments along bus corridors.

• CTA launched implementation of the All Stations Accessibility Program (ASAP). The
ASAP plan details short- and long- term station accessibility projects, including a pathway
to complete vertical accessibility of rail stations and upgrades of 160+ existing rail station
elevators, as well as cost estimates and a proposed implementation schedule for these
improvements. The plan also addressed additional accessibility elements. 42 A federal
funding program for rail station accessibility was modeled on (and named for) these
improvements.
•
CTA began the installation of more than 1,300 tactile bus stop signs to make boarding
locations easier to identify for riders who are blind or visually impaired (2022). 43
• CDOT began upgrading more than 100 bus stops for accessibility improvements (2022).
• Pace has made several improvements in technology for Paratransit services including
routing software, customer communication and payment, and transfer locations funded
by Rebuild Illinois (2020). 44
• Between 2018-2022, Metra completed 22 station rehabilitation projects and made 5

stations ADA-accessible.
• In 2021, CMAP created an Accessibility and ADA-compliance program to help our

partners develop ADA Transition Plans and implement needed improvements. ADA
Transition Plans include ‘universal design’ infrastructure that improves mobility and safety
for pedestrians and other users in addition to those with disabilities.

• The agencies will work together to develop a regional accessibility

improvement plan that builds upon existing Service Board plans and
Shared provides a comprehensive catalog of capital projects that prioritizes
Activities investment and identifies funding sources to achieve full system
accessibility within and across three Service Boards. (Shared regional
activity for 2023)
• Lead development of plan described in Shared Activities.
RTA • Continue to advance and monitor projects that are improving

accessibility through the RTA’s Access to Transit and 5310 Funding
programs.
CTA • Commence additional four rail station projects to improve accessibility.
• Implement improvement projects at 13 Metra Electric District stations,

with a focus on ADA accessibility.
• Create two new fully accessible infill stations, Peterson/Ridge and
Auburn Park.
Metra
• Develop a station accessibility plan in 2023 to guide overall policy and
program.
• Continue roll-out of train tracker and elevator replacements across the
system.
• Implement Dempster Pulse station improvements to be fully accessible.

Pace
• Sidewalk and shelter pad construction at non-Pulse stops.
• Advance ADA transition planning with local municipalities.

• Coordinate IIJA applications for projects tied to accessibility
CMAP
improvements.
• Provide technical assistance for ADA transition plans in LTA project.

With more resources, the agencies could advance accessibility improvements more quickly
such as CTA’s All Stations Accessible Program, with an estimated total cost of $2.1 billion to
complete. 45 Local municipalities would also benefit from additional regional, state, and federal
funding to help them invest in sidewalks, crosswalks, and other infrastructure improvements
around their stations.
How is our region currently doing?

All of the region’s bus and train fleets are accessible for people of differing abilities. Currently 100 of
145 CTA Rail stations are fully accessible, and 185 of 242 Metra stations are fully accessible and an
additional 13 stations are partially accessible.

Action 3: Provide more accurate, real-time travel
information for riders.
Riders of fixed route and paratransit should have clear, accurate information about when and
where their bus or train will arrive, regardless of schedule disruptions. While there are
challenges to providing seamless information across three systems, several modes and a
large region, RTA and the Service Boards are hearing feedback about information challenges
and working continuously to make improvements.
Significant advances in technology have improved real-time information in recent years;
however, the ways the transit system communicates with riders is not always as accessible
and understandable as it should be. Additionally, the pandemic induced service disruptions
have made service less reliable and the need for accurate information even more critical.

Stakeholder working groups crafted specific strategies to make immediate improvements
including developing on-board Metra communications displaying stops and exit instructions,
improved station and platform signage and audio messaging for where to board, reviewing
existing displays to ensure they can be read by as many riders as possible, and testing
manual and automated audio announcement systems for sound quality.

• RTA has convened real-time information coordination calls for staff to exchange updates
and ideas and coordinate.
• CTA launched a redesigned bus-tracker website and mobile application, improving
customer access to arrival information and building the foundation for future upgrades
accuracy and reliability of bus arrival information (2022). 46
• Pace Pulse Milwaukee line stations now include real time bus displays and audio
announcements.

• The agencies will work together to commission an independent review

Shared of the accessibility and usability of rider communication, signage, and
Activities information-sharing across and between agencies. (Shared regional
activity for 2023)
• Lead review described in Shared Activities.

• Continue to advance better rider information with more interagency
RTA signage and will work with Service Boards to pursue improvements to
in-vehicle and at-station transfer announcements and real-time
messaging.
• Upgrade bus tracker interface and improve on-board displays on newest

40-ft buses and electric buses.
• Pilot a Chat with CTA or ChatBot feature to provide riders with more
CTA
real-time information or ability to easily report quality of life issues to
CTA.
• Enhance tracking information in the Ventra App.
• Begin rollout of new station displays to support real-time train tracking.
Metra
• Continue rollout of new train tracking system.
• Implement Transit app Mobility as a Service (MaaS) two-year pilot.

Pace • Implement Pulse Dempster Line station information improvements.
• Implement retrofitting displays for real-time information.
CMAP • N/A

With more resources, the agencies could update their central operating software and
hardware on vehicles more frequently, which will make location reporting more robust and
accurate. Additional digital signage could also be installed and improvements to the Ventra
app could be made. Additional technical staffing at all agencies would also help advance
projects more quickly.
How are we doing currently?

The impacts of the pandemic on staffing have made providing service a scheduled challenging, which
has had cascading impacts on the accuracy of real-time information across the system. Currently 96
percent of transit agencies across the U.S. are experiencing a workforce shortage, and 84 percent of
those agencies have said the labor shortage is affecting their ability to provide service. 47 These
circumstances have led to reduced satisfaction with real-time information—less than 75% of riders
are satisfied with the accuracy of Train and Bus Tracker products. 48

Action 4: Make paying for transit more seamless
and more affordable.
Riding CTA, Metra, and Pace, and transferring across systems should be as easy as
possible. The Chicago region’s transit agency is operated by three separate Service Boards,
but riders care most about a transit experience that easily gets them to where they need to go
without complicating or confusing transfers. As the regional entity, RTA is committed to
making transit more seamless. Making the system easier to ride will also encourage more
people to take advantage of it rather than driving for trips.
A systemwide day pass or more discounted transfers could help remove barriers to travel. In
addition, reducing fares for some could also help make transit more financially accessible.
The RTA and the Service Boards offer reduced fare and ride free programs for seniors and
riders with disabilities, and with additional long-term funding, can explore how to expand
these programs to new populations including all people experiencing low incomes.

The stakeholder working groups pushed for explicit strategies to better integrate regional
transit fares including: creation of a single-ride regional fare instrument, reducing or
eliminating transfer fares to/from Metra service and another Service Board, and coordinating
with public and private services addressing the first and last mile of transit trips. Additionally,
the working groups pushed for expanding access to free or discounted fares to members of
low-income households and for further evaluating the equity implications of distance-based
fares that reduce existing fares for shorter trips.

• Cook County, Metra, and Pace began the Fair Transit South Cook pilot, offering reduced
Metra fares in the study area and increased service levels on the Metra Electric and Rock
Island lines and the Pace 352 bus route. 49
• Metra, CTA, and Pace launched the Regional Connect monthly pass, offering an
integrated, unlimited, and affordable monthly fare product (2022). 50
• CTA and Pace introduced Ventra Card for the Android, iPhone and Apple Watch allowing
customers to tap to pay for rides via their personal smart device (2020). 51
• Metra introduced new pass products to offer discounted and simplified fares for returning
riders (2020/2022).
• Pace 52 and CTA’s 53 Capital Programs includes a coordinated procurement and

installation of replacement fareboxes and related equipment improving bus efficiency and
data reporting (2022).
• Pace approved the launch of a two-year Mobility as a Service (Maas) platform

development to enhance accessibility to service through technology and improve
flexibility when riding on multiple service providers (2022). 54
• CMAP completed Equity in Transportation Fees, Fines, and Fares report to assess the
impacts of fees, fines, and fares on residents with low income and recommend policy
changes to improve equity (2021). 55

• The agencies will work together to identify funding to pilot an expanded

regional free or reduced fare program available to people experiencing
low incomes to make the system more affordable and advance
understanding about the barriers that fares present to riders. (Shared
regional activity for 2023)
• The agencies are participating in a joint effort led by Cook County in
Shared 2022-2023 to further analyze fare integration.
Activities
• Metra and Pace will continue to participate in the Fair Transit South
Cook fare pilot led by Cook County.
• CTA and Pace continue to advance four integrated passes: 1-day, 3-
day, 7-day, 30-day all of which include all bus and rail other than Pace
premium routes, and eliminate Pace to Pace transfer fare. CTA
previously eliminated CTA to CTA transfer fares.
• Take a key role in pursuing funding for a pilot as described in Shared

Activities.
RTA • Continue to administer existing free and reduced fare programs for
seniors and people with disabilities enrolled in the Illinois Department on
Aging’s Benefit Access program.
• Continue U-Pass with expanded flexibility for all colleges.

CTA
• Continue to advance Ventra 3.0 rollout that is planned for 2024/2025.
• Continue to advance the Regional Connect pass product as an add-on

for monthly pass customers.
• Continue simplified and affordable fare products such as the $100
Metra
Super-Saver Monthly Pass, and $6 and $10 Day Passes.
• Begin installation of ticket vending machines, which could eventually
accept Ventra payments and support transfer payments, system-wide.
• Continue discounted Taxi Access Program (TAP) and DuPage Access

Pace
programs.
CMAP • Study fare integration and fare subsidies.

Additional resources would open the door to more seamless fare products, expanding
existing discounted and ride free programs to include groups such as individuals from low-
income households, youths, and students or even fare free transit service.
What are other regions doing?

Many transit agencies address equity and affordability goals by providing reduced fare options for
riders experiencing low income, reducing their financial burden. A 2021 study showed that 17 of the
largest US transit agencies offer such programs. 56 Typically, these agencies offer a 50% discount on
fares for participants with incomes below a threshold of 125% to 200% of the federal poverty level.
Another study found that these types of discounts lead to significantly increased transit usage,
particularly for health care and social service purposes. 57 Developing, coordinating, and implementing
these types of programs across multiple agencies would be complex, but other regions have worked
to overcome similar challenges.
In the Seattle region, the ORCA Lift program offers low-income riders reduced fares of one dollar on
King County Metro and several other regional transit systems. Participants who earn less than 200%
of the federal poverty level can enroll using the same network of more than 40 social service
providers that helped people enroll in Affordable Care Act health insurance across the region.
In the San Francisco Bay Area, the Clipper START pilot program offers discounts of 20% or 50% for
low-income riders on 21 of the region’s 27 transit agencies. The program was launched in 2020 after
the completion of the Regional Means-Based Transit Fare Pricing Study in 2018. Participants with
household incomes less than 200% of the federal poverty level can enroll through the Metropolitan
Transportation Commission.

Action 5: Accelerate the transition to a near-zero
emission regional transit system and prioritize
communities burdened by poor air quality.
CTA and Pace have committed to transition their bus fleets from fossil fuels by 2040, Metra
is exploring clean technology as it becomes available, and there are steps the RTA and
Service Boards can take in the short term to move those plans forward. Increased attention
on the climate crisis and air quality issues have led to more scrutiny of transportation
emissions in the Chicago region, throughout the United States, and across the world in recent
years. Transit plays an incremental role in advancing sustainability by reducing driving. While
RTA analysis shows that emissions from transit vehicles make up less than two percent of
total transportation emissions in the region, transit operators can cement their place as the
anchors of a more sustainable network by electrifying. Other efforts to reduce single
occupancy vehicle travel and to decrease the environmental footprint of transit are also
important to advance, in consideration of plans with a local focus such as ON TO 2050 as
well as those with a more international focus such as the United Nations Sustainable
Development Goals. 58

While the past years have seen increased urgency in electrification of bus fleets, stakeholder
working groups pushed for an even faster pace and improved coordination in adoption of
green transit technologies including a target of eliminating of all fossil fuel transit and fleet
vehicles by 2040. Working groups also envisioned improved planning efforts to fortify the
regional network against climate and other disruptions including infrastructure emergencies
and labor shortages. Lastly, working groups recommended establishing a funding or incentive
program for the Service Boards and local communities to implement green infrastructure
solutions in areas near transit.

• CTA released Charging Forward to inform the major decisions that comprise CTA’s plan
to fully electrify its bus fleet by 2040 including assessing equity and environmental justice
impacts (2022). 59
• Pace committed to a goal of 100% zero emissions fleet by 2040 to reduce its carbon
footprint and improve the quality of our community's environment (2022). 60
• Metra announced that it plans to convert six locomotives to battery electric demonstrating
a commitment to innovation and cleaner energy (2022). 61
• Pace purchased 20 Proterra ZX5 Electric Buses and EV Fleet Charging Infrastructure
(2022). 62
• Pace’s 2023 Capital Program includes an additional $60 million for electrification and
expansion North Division in Waukegan (2022). 63

• Work together to develop a regional transit climate action plan that builds
upon existing Service Board plans and identifies opportunities for transit
Shared to support the region’s climate action goals, outlines regional strategies
Activities that will encourage more people to ride transit, and charts a course to
reduce the footprint of the transit system and move toward zero-
emissions for transit operations. (Shared regional activity for 2023)
• Lead the development of the climate action plan described in Shared

Activities.
RTA
• Work to grow regional transit mode share by continuing to expand the
use of Transit Benefit programs across the region.
• Advance bus electrification on Chicago Avenue.

• Conduct two load studies to determine how to get the needed megawatts
CTA for garages.
• Construct sub-stations at the garages and coordinate with ComEd to
operationalize necessary charging infrastructure.
• Procuring zero emission train sets of integrated locomotive and powered

Metra cars for shorter distance operations.
• Procuring Tier 4 and fully electric switch locomotives.
• Complete its Electric Vehicle Transition Plan.

• Continue procurement and delivery of Electric Vehicles for service
Pace testing.
• Begin converting North Division garage in Waukegan to an electrified
facility.
• Accelerate Greenhouse Gas planning efforts.

CMAP • Opportunities for transit electrification through CMAP-administered
funding programs.

With more resources, the agencies could transition their fleets more quickly and more
thoroughly. Replacing CTA’s fleet of 1,800 diesel buses with electric buses by 2040 requires
an estimated increase in capital funding of $1.8 to $3.1 billion, over what would be needed to
maintain the existing fleet and facilities, to pay for the additional per vehicle purchase cost
and the required charging and electrical infrastructure. 64
In addition, more resources would allow for other updates to be made to make transit stations
and facilities more energy-efficient. Finally, more resources would also allow the agencies to
improve the physical resiliency of the systems to buffer the effects of climate change.

Why is this important?
The impacts of air pollution from cars, trucks, and other sources are not distributed evenly across our
region. People of color and low-income populations are disproportionately exposed to higher levels
of dangerous air pollution and suffer negative health outcomes as a result. 65
Figure 14: Intersection of Poor Air Quality and Concentrations of Low-Income

Populations and People of Color as Defined by the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA)

Action 6: Assess the regional capital program in a
new way including considerations for racial equity
and mobility justice.
For the last several years, the RTA and the Service Boards have been working together to
articulate and advance a regional transit capital strategy. This moment is an opportunity to
refresh the considerations that are made when projects are added to the 5-year regional
capital program to better integrate with other regional planning processes, respond to
legislative mandates, consider the input of stakeholders, and, most critically, address
historical disinvestment in communities throughout the region.

The stakeholder working groups pushed for the RTA and Service Boards to take a more
regional approach in funding capital improvements that equitably prioritizes communities of
the greatest need through an increased and diverse staff with the inclusion of those
communities directly in the decision-making process. Working groups pushed for investing in
a complete transit experience while advancing state of good repair across the system.
Working groups also stressed the importance of transparency in not just evaluating projects
but in which projects are selected for inclusion in the capital program.

• RTA and the Service Boards established a first-ever, for the region, performance-based
formula for allocating federal and state PAYGO funds that, among other things, requires
the agencies to program at least 20% of their capital dollars to projects focused on either
equity or accessibility. 66 This was first applied in 2020 for the 2025 program year, which
RTA will continue to monitor.
• CTA established a partnership with the Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) and
TransitCenter 67 for the purpose of furthering CTA’s equity work and established an
internal equity working group – a permanent, ongoing committee that pursues equity
outcomes, internally and externally (2021).
• CTA and the FTA published the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Record
of Decision (ROD) for the Red Line Extension, completing the National Environmental
Policy Act (NEPA) EIS process and moving forward this critical equity investment in the
south side of Chicago.
• Transportation Equity Network (TEN) formed to build a coalition of community groups,

equitable transportation advocates, local leadership, and others to work with decision-
makers to embed racial equity and mobility justice into transportation decisions and
investments (2021).
• Chicago’s City Council approved $10 million in earmarks for equitable transit-oriented
development and the Chicago Department of Housing announced $1 billion in planned
affordable housing investments for 24 projects, of which 75% will be transit-oriented
(2021).

• The agencies will work together to outline and apply the 12 new capital
program evaluation measures recommended by the Priority Project
Shared
working group – including equity, mobility justice, and other measures.
Activities
The agencies have agreed that these will be applied during the annual
budget process starting in 2023 and will continue to work toward that.
• Evaluate the capital program across 12 measures recommended by the

Priority Project working group – including equity and other measures --
during the annual budget process starting in 2023 as described in the
RTA Shared Activities.
• Utilize the new capital program dataset and evaluation measures to
advance equity focused projects and identify existing gaps in investment.
• Advance the Red Line Extension project through the federal New Starts
funding program and the procurement process.
CTA
• Provide information about 12 new capital program evaluation measures
starting with the 2024 budget process that will commence in 2023.
• Continue to advance equity geography as an element of investment

prioritization.
Metra

Pace
• Identify and quantify the relationship between transit investments and

community reinvestment.
CMAP • Rethink the region’s Regionally Significant Project evaluation process
and better connect Economically Disconnected Area parameters with
capital program measures used across all of the agencies and region.

With more resources, the Service Boards could expand staff resources to improve asset
management and evaluation strategies while undertaking more projects to replace and
modernize the transit infrastructure across the region.
Peer Example: Virginia SMART SCALE

SMART SCALE is a process that helps Virginia meet its most critical transportation needs using limited
tax dollars. It evaluates potential transportation projects based on key factors like how they improve
safety, reduce congestion, increase accessibility, contribute to economic development, promote
efficient land use, and affect the environment. The anticipated benefits are calculated, and the
projects are scored and ranked. This information is used by the Commonwealth Transportation Board
to help guide and inform their project selection decisions.
The funding going through this program is a relatively small portion of total state transportation
capital, but the process is intended to allocate the SMART SCALE funds – across modes and program

areas – in a transparent, performance-based manner. All projects requesting SMART SCALE funding
go through the same quantifiable and transparent prioritization process, illustrated below.
Figure 15: Virginia SMART SCALE Project Selection Process
The overall process and metrics themselves are created with public and stakeholder feedback as well
as results being publicly available. Public hearings are held once a draft Six-Year Improvement
Program (SYIP) is published, and public and stakeholder feedback is solicited between SMART SCALE
rounds for lessons learned. A complete project tracking timeline is illustrated below.
Figure 16: Virginia SMART SCALE Project Tracking Timeline

Action 7: Adapt bus and rail service to meet the
changing needs of riders.
Why this Action is Important
Transit has been and continues to be a lifeline to many riders, but COVID-19 has also
changed when, where, how, and why many residents use transit. Stakeholders have told us
that transit needs to be more flexible and adapt to what is needed at this moment to connect
more people to opportunity. Activities underway to advance changes to the transit network
include the Pace Bus Redesign, Paratransit pilot projects, Metra exploration of regional rail,
and CTA's Meeting the Moment Action Plan. Meanwhile all of the agencies are also
experiencing significant operator shortages and hiring challenges, which is limiting their
abilities to meet even current service needs let alone entertain further flexibility or adding
service.
Input on this Action from Stakeholder Working Groups

Stakeholder working groups proposed prioritizing access to opportunity over just ridership in
understanding how the regional transit system may need to adapt to changing and unmet
needs of riders and communities. This includes focusing on improving service frequency and
reliability particularly in low-income neighborhoods, suburbs, and communities with a
demonstrated transit need and in the hours outside of traditional peak service. Working
groups also recommended development of regional service standards and policies to guide
how service is distributed across the region.

• RTA led the region’s first pilots with new mobility providers. These included last-mile
services from Metra to suburban office parks in Oak Brook and Bannockburn, and a
mobility-as-a-service application and variety of offerings in Bedford Park. 68, 69 All of these
pilots allowed the agencies and partners to test connecting options for transit and make
observations useful to future evolutions of these activities.
• CTA released the customer-focused “Meeting the Moment: Transforming CTA’s Post-
Pandemic Future” action plan for its system that includes strategic initiatives designed to
immediately respond to riders’ most pressing challenges (2022). 70
• CTA reinstated express service on the Cottage Grove bus route to help meet ridership
demand (2022). 71
• CTA made permanent pilots of the #157 and #31 bus route extensions and partnered
with CDOT on pop-up bus lanes experiments during COVID.
• Metra piloted reverse commute service to Lake Cook Road on Milwaukee District North
with a funding partnership with Lake County Partners, an economic development
corporation affiliated with Lake County businesses and governments. 72
• Metra adopted service principles which have guided schedule updates since 2021, with a
focus on restoring service, establishing memorable service patterns, and providing
consistent and frequent service throughout the day. 73
• Pace opened its first Pulse line on Milwaukee Avenue, offering fast and reliable services
that combines transit signal priority technology and limited-stop service with raised
platforms at stations to reduce travel times and provide enhanced rider amenities. 74

• Pace began work on its second Pulse line, operating on Dempster Ave and connecting
Evanston to O’Hare Airport. 75
• Pace has grown the Taxi Access Program through fare incentives to provide more
flexible mobility to customers and preserve reliability on the Pace served system. 76
• Pace partnered with DuPage County to pilot using Transportation Network Company
vehicles to supplement the agency fleet and offer real-time trip booking to customers.
• Pace launched a pilot of its new VanGo program, a reservation-based service in which
drivers and riders reserve a van for the next business day. RTA and Pace completed an
ADA Innovation Study and Action Plan for implementation to provide improved mobility
options for customers while controlling cost growth. 77
• Begin development of a transit-friendly communities plan, based on

RTA’s Setting the Stage for Transit report, that will set standards for
Shared
communities that host transit services and hold them accountable for
Activities
land-use decisions and access to transit to ensure that our riders can
travel safely and efficiently. (Shared regional activity for 2023)
• Update RTA Transit Access Index to equitably assess access to

opportunity across disaggregate population groups throughout the
region.
• Procure new datasets and tools to conduct market analysis that captures
changing and unmet travel needs.
RTA • Conduct panel surveys to continually gain public input on how demand
for travel and customer experience are changing across the regional
transit system.
• Continue exploring new and strengthening existing microtransit and
shared mobility programs in order to improve first and last mile
connections and overall access to transportation.
• Continue to advance service optimization described in Meeting the

Moment Action Plan.
CTA • Continue to develop the Better Streets for Buses Plan to improve street
infrastructure for public bus service and lay the groundwork for ongoing
bus infrastructure improvements.
• Begin evolution towards regional rail style service as outlined in “My

Metra, Our Future” Strategic Plan.
• Conduct a route restoration study to optimize returning service.
Metra
• Conduct a system wide network plan assessing travel market demand
and including: public engagement, ridership modeling, capital cost
analysis, operation simulation.
• Begin network revitalization and restructuring as envisioned in the

Pace
“Driving Innovation” Strategic Plan.

• Implement short-term plans for innovative service throughout the region
as possible given labor constraints.
CMAP • CMAP will model visionary transit adaptation at regional scale.

There is a major transit funding crisis looming, but if more resources are available beyond the
“budget gap,” the agencies could provide additional service across the region and continue to
develop new service models identified in Metra’s vision of regional rail service, CTA’s Better
Streets for Buses framework, and Pace’s Network Revitalization & Service Restructuring
priority initiative.
What has changed across the region?

Who, when, where, and why people ride transit around the region changed significantly during the
pandemic. The share of trips occurring during the morning and evening rush hours has decreased
while the share of ridership occurring at most other times of day has grown. Prior to the pandemic,
39% of transit riders across the region came from households with incomes under $50,000. That
share had grown to 50% as of 2021, underscoring the importance of transit service for the region’s
essential workers and for workers who have no other options besides transit to travel to their jobs.
2021 also saw changes in what people are accessing via transit, with increases in retail and healthcare
and declines in offices accessed via transit. 78
Figure 17: Distribution of Household Incomes of Transit Riders in 2019 and 2021,
Replica 2022
2019 2021
$0-$15k
$15-$25k
$25k-$50k
$50k-$75k
$75k-$100k
$100k-$150k
$150k-$200k
Over $200k
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%

Measuring Progress
The RTA is confident that the shared vision, principles, and Agenda for Advocacy and Action
will avert a transit system crisis and move the region in a positive direction. Early in the plan
process, RTA also worked with stakeholders to develop six outcomes that we are aiming to
achieve for the transit system and for the type of region a great transit system can help build
that should come from this plan. The three principles of equity, commitment to change, and
stewardship, apply to each of the outcomes we aim to achieve. The outcomes included:
In the future our region’s transit system will be...

• Safe, accessible, reliable, and useful for riders
• In a state of good repair
• Financially stable
In the future our region will be...

• Connected
• Winning the fight against climate change
• Thriving
Now is the time for the RTA, the Service Boards, and the region’s many stakeholders to act
on this plan and to help make these outcomes a reality. We know that accountability along
the way will be important.
Tracking and reporting on our regional transit system’s performance is one of RTA’s core
functions. RTA constantly evaluates the impact and effectiveness of the system and shares
information to increase transparency and accountability.
New strategic performance measures will help guide regional investments and resource
allocation, create data-driven feedback loops between implementation and future decision
making, and highlight initiatives where course corrections may be needed. RTA is also
committed to tracking strategic performance measures at a detailed, nuanced level to
understand how outcomes may vary across communities, by race, by income, or other
important factors.
The strategic performance measures included in this plan are organized around the six key
outcomes as shown in the following tables.

Table 11: Strategic Performance Measures for the Transit System
These measures capture user experience, progress made in investing-in and maintaining
transit infrastructure, and how well RTA and the Service Boards are maximizing use of our
shared resources. When possible, these measures will be tracked both in aggregate and
across different demographic, geographic, and rider groups in order to measure equity and
improve equity outcomes.
• Safety/security incidents per 1 million trips - The number

of reportable safety and security incidents that occur on
transit vehicles and at transit facilities per 1 million
passenger trips taken. Lowering safety and security
incidents is paramount to the rider experience and to
encouraging ridership.
• On-time performance - The percent of all transit trips that
are on-time, late, and early. Riders expect to get to their
destinations on time. Maintaining on time performance
decreases delays and ensures riders can predict and plan
their trips.
• The ratio of operated service to scheduled service - The
share of scheduled transit trips that are actually delivered.
• Average transit vehicle speed - The average
measurement of distance traveled normalized by the time it
takes a transit vehicle to travel from one point to another.
Average speeds impact safety, traffic flow, congestion,
schedules, service reliability and more.
• Ridership - The total boardings throughout the system.
Safe, Ridership is dependent on numerous factors, including
A transit accessible, access, affordability and reliability.
system reliable, and
useful for • Customer satisfaction - The degree to which transit
that is... customers are satisfied or dissatisfied with transit service.
riders
Customer satisfaction encompasses numerous factors,
such as speed and reliability, quality and accessibility of
information, transit amenities, and safety.
• Vehicle revenue hours per passenger per capita - The
total revenue hours (time a transit vehicle is available to the
general public) per passenger or person within the service
area. Revenue hours per passenger or per capita is a useful
metric in measuring a transit agency's service operability
compared to its ridership.
• Percentage of regional residents within walking
distance of all-day, frequent transit - The percent of
residents living within walking distance (usually 1/4 mile) of
all-day, frequent transit service. A higher percentage of the
population living near frequent, quality transit will
significantly improve access to opportunity and accessibility
throughout the region.
• Number of passenger transfers between Service
Boards - The number of passenger transfers between one
service board to another (e.g., taking a Pace bus to 'L' train
or Metra Rail to CTA bus).

• Miles between major mechanical failures - The total
and average miles travelled between major mechanical
failures to transit vehicles. The more miles between
mechanical failures means fewer delays and improved
service reliability.
• Percentage of assets within useful life benchmark -
The percent of assets (e.g., vehicles, buildings, passenger
stations and fixed guideway facilities) that are within their
useful life -- the expected lifetime of property, or the
acceptable period of use in service. Ideally, transit assets
are replaced before the end of their useful life.
• Inventory of ADA accessible and non-compliant

facilities, including percent of time unavailable for
accessibility elements - The amount transit facilities that
are compliant and non-compliant with ADA accessibility
standards. All facilities and vehicles must meet ADA
accessibility standards and ensure no one is denied
transportation based on physical ability.
• Backlog of investment needs - The list of transit

amenities, vehicles, supplies and materials that are in
need of investment, including those assets exceeding
their useful life. The backlog of investment needs can
inform which assets an agency should prioritize spending
A transit In a state of capital funds on. For example, the CTA has identified a
system good repair total of $29 billion in long-term capital project needs.
that is...
• Annual capital funding - The annual amount dedicated
to funding expenses related to the purchase,
improvement, or maintenance of capital equipment and
financing capital projects. The 2022-2026 Capital Program
totals $5.26 billion. Recent major influxes in capital
funding from state and federal infrastructure bills have led
to many long-needed projects being built in the Chicago
region, but a long-term sustainable funding solution is
needed to keep transit in a state of good repair today and
for the next generation.
• Capital expenditures - The funds used for the purchase,

improvement, or maintenance of transit assets and capital
projects. Modernizing and improving transit facilities with
capital expenditures can ensure those facilities are safe,
accessible and in a state of good repair for all passengers
and future passengers.
• Share of capital spending in equity areas - The share

of capital funding invested in equity areas compared to
the rest of the region. Investments in equity areas can
connect historically disadvantaged and underserved
communities to jobs and opportunity, support climate
justice and ensure everyone benefits from a robust
transportation system.

• Non-farebox operating revenue - The revenue accrued
by the Service Boards other than the revenue accrued
through customer farebox payments. With the impacts of
the COVID-19 pandemic transit agencies are increasingly
leaning on ancillary revenue such as the lease of space,
advertising, and investment income, to support operating
budgets.
• Operating cost per unit of service - The amount a

service board spends to offer a specific amount of transit
A transit Financially
service (per hour, week, month, etc.) Operating cost per
system stable
unit of service can demonstrate how far a transit agency's
that is...
operating dollar is going, per hour, week, or year.
• Fare revenue per passenger trip - Represents the

average fare collected by the Service Boards per trip,
including discounted fares for select populations.
• Regional and Service Board farebox recovery ratios

as published in the National Transit Database (NTD) -
The fraction of regional and service board operating
expenses which are met by passenger fares.

Table 12: Strategic Performance Measure for the Region
These measures capture how the transit system connects people to opportunities like
jobs and healthcare, how transit is used as a tool for climate action, and how transit
fosters communities throughout the region to thrive. When possible, these measures will
be tracked both in aggregate and across different demographic, geographic, and rider
groups in order to measure equity and improve equity outcomes.
• The number of jobs/services within 30/60 minutes via

transit vs. driving - The number of jobs and other
important services (such as healthcare, schools, and
grocery stores) reachable within 30 and 60-minutes by
transit, versus driving. Improving the number of jobs and
services accessible via transit connects people to
opportunities and daily needs.
• Regional miles of dedicated bus lanes - The total miles

of dedicated bus lanes (street space that is exclusive to
transit vehicles) in the system. More miles of dedicated
bus lanes means more high-quality and reliable
transportation to more people that need it.
• Transit travel time competitiveness to auto - The

A region
Connected average time it takes to get to a destination on public
that is...
transit versus driving a personal vehicle. If the time it takes
to reach your destination on public transit is less than on
other modes, people will likely opt to use it for it
convenience.
• Total area of access measured in travel time - Measure

of how far you can travel via transit within 30 and 60
minutes.
• Residential density within 1/2 mile of transit - The

number of dwelling units per area (e.g., acre) within 1/2
mile of transit facilities.
• Passenger trips per capita - The average number of

transit trips that people living within the service area take.
• Regional greenhouse gas emissions from on-road and

rail transportation - Total amount of greenhouse gas
emissions across the region from on-road sources (i.e.,
transit buses, trucks, and cars) and rail (i.e., passenger
and freight rail).
Winning the
A region fight against • Regional transit system emissions - Total amount of
that is... climate greenhouse gas emissions attributed to the regional transit
change system, including direct, indirect, and upstream emissions
from vehicle travel and transit operations.
• Tons of CO2 per passenger mile traveled - Greenhouse

gas emissions (measured as tons of carbon dioxide
equivalents) from transit normalized by the number of
passenger miles traveled on transit.

• Regional vehicle miles traveled - Measure of driving
(including personal trips and freight delivery) across the
region. Shifting more trips from driving to transit can help
reduce vehicle miles traveled and associated emissions.
• Regional transit mode share of fleets that are zero-

emission - Percentage of the regional transit fleet made
up of zero-emissions vehicles. Increasing the number of
zero-emissions vehicles will help decrease greenhouse
gas emissions from the transit system.
• Tons of CO2 off set by low emissions vehicles -

Measure quantifying the amount of greenhouse gas
emissions avoided by switching to zero and low
emissions vehicles compared to conventional vehicles.
• Tons of CO2 off set by mode choice - Measure

quantifying the amount of greenhouse gas emissions
avoided by the use of transit vs. driving alone.
• Percentage of regional employers offering transit

benefits - The percent of employers in the region that
offer transit benefits (e.g., RTA Transit Benefit Fare
Program and other transit subsidies) to their employees.
• Share of new building and affordable housing

permits within 1/2 mile of quality transit - The percent
of issued building permits and new affordable housing
units that are within 1/2 mile of 15-minute or less transit
service.
• Share of population and jobs within 1/2 mile of

quality transit - The percent of population and jobs that
are within 1/2 mile of 15-minute or less transit service. A
higher concentration of jobs and residents within a 1/2
A region mile of frequent transit means expanded opportunity
Thriving
that is... access and more opportunity for transit-oriented
development, or TOD, to serve those populations.
• The percentage of household income spent on transit

and overall transportation costs - The percent of a
typical household's income that is spent on transit and
transportation costs annually. American households in
the lowest income quintile spend the least on
transportation but face a larger transportation cost
burden, spending 27% of their income on transportation
compared to 10% by the highest income quintile in 2021.

Stay Engaged
Transit is the Answer to many of the region’s challenges but is threatened by lack of sufficient
operating and capital funding after years of disinvestment and a pandemic. Our region’s
current transit funding structure is also overly reliant on fares. Together this leaves our transit
agencies to face an existential crisis that neither fare hikes nor service cuts can solve while
preserving a useful and equitable system.
We need your help to win sustainable funding for transit and build a better system for
everyone who relies on it. The Agenda for Advocacy and Action in this plan lays out a path to
position the system for long-term success by seeking new funding, making improvements for
riders, and supporting communities working to increase transit access.
We recognize we can’t do this alone. Many of the advocacy and action items in this plan are
not under the control of RTA, CTA, Metra, and Pace. Leadership from a diverse group of
elected officials and community leaders is needed to achieve meaningful change.
Take action to advance this agenda, save transit, and improve it for the future.
• Organizations: Join our Transit is the Answer Coalition. We will be in touch about
opportunities for you to participate in plan implementation activities.
o A partner toolkit to advocate for increased funding for transit will be available
upon RTA Board consideration of this plan in February 2023.
• Individuals: Sign up for RTA communications and follow RTA on social media to
receive regular updates on the coalition and progress on the plan actions.

Related Documents
Technical Documents
10-Year Financial Plan Working Group Memo
Capital Priority Projects Working Group Memo
Chicago Regional Transit System Sketch Economic Impact Analysis
Stakeholder Engagement
Working Group Hub
Stakeholder Working Group Briefing Booklets

Transit Service
Financial Responsibility
Stakeholder Working Group Memos

Transit Service
Financial Responsibility
Stakeholder Process & Engagement Summary Document

RTA Board Updates
Strategic Plan Workshop. August 19, 2021.

https://www.rtachicago.org/sites/default/files/documents/aboutus/meeting_documents/
08-19-21/081921%208a%20Strategic%20Plan%20Workshop.pdf
What We’ve Heard: A focus on outcomes will drive the next regional transit strategic plan.
February 10, 2022.
02-17-22/6b_Strategic%20Plan%20and%20Emerging%20Vision.pdf
Strategic Plan Update. August 18, 2022.
09-15-22/6a_Regional_Transit_Strategic_Plan_Update.pdf
Strategic Plan Update. October 20, 2022.
10-20-22/6a_Regional_Transit_Strategic_Plan_Oct2022_Update.pdf
1
Chicago Transit Authority. 2022. Meeting the Moment: Transforming CTA’s Post-Pandemic
Future. https://www.transitchicago.com/assets/1/6/Meeting_the_Moment.pdf
2
Metra. 2022. My Metra, Our Future. https://metra.com/sites/default/files/inline-
files/Booklet9.25x8.5_MetraStrategicPlan2023-27_DS-LR_0.pdf
3
Pace. 2022. Driving Innovation. https://www.pacebus.com/sites/default/files/2021-
10/Driving%20Innovation%20Plan_September%202021.pdf
4
U.S. Census Bureau. 2021.
5
U.S. Department of Commerce. 2022. Gross domestic product by county, 2020.
6
Metropolitan Planning Council. 2018. Transit Means Business.
https://transitmeansbusiness.metroplanning.org/
7
Regional Transportation Authority. 2021. RTA COVID-19 Lapsed Rider Survey.
https://www.rtachicago.org/sites/default/files/2021-04/RTA%20COVID-
19%20Lapsed%20Rider%20Survey%20-%20Final%20Report.pdf
8
Regional Transportation Authority. 2021. RTA COVID-19 Lapsed Rider Survey.
https://www.rtachicago.org/sites/default/files/2021-04/RTA%20COVID-
19%20Lapsed%20Rider%20Survey%20-%20Final%20Report.pdf
9
Transit Center. 2021. Equity Dashboard.
10
Replica. 2021. Fall 2021 data for the Great Lakes region.
11
Center for Neighborhood Technology. 2017. Housing + Transportation Affordability Index.
https://htaindex.cnt.org/map/
12
Replica. 2022. Fall 2021 data for the Great Lakes Region.
13
Replica. 2022. Fall 2021 data for the Great Lakes Region.
14
Google. 2022. Bringing Google to Chicago’s Thompson Center.
https://blog.google/inside-google/company-announcements/chicago-thompson-center/

15
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 2022. Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator.
https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gas-equivalencies-calculator
16
American Public Transportation Association. 2021. Economic Impact of Public
Transportation Investment. https://www.apta.com/research-technical-
resources/research-reports/economic-impact-of-public-transportation-investment/
17
The White House. 2022. Justice 40: A Whole-of-Government Initiative.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/environmentaljustice/justice40/
Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning. 2019. 2019 Regional Greenhouse Gas
18
Emissions Inventory.
19
Transit Cooperative Research Board. 2021. An Update on Public Transportation’s Impacts
on Greenhouse Gas Emissions. https://www.trb.org/Main/Blurbs/181941.aspx
20
U.S Environmental Protection Agency. 2022. Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator.
https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gas-equivalencies-calculator#results
21
Regional Transportation Authority. 2022. Memo Summarizing Work of the Ten-Year
Financial Plan Technical Working Group.
https://www.rtachicago.org/sites/default/files/documents/StrategicPlan/10%20Year%20
Plan/10%20Year%20FP%20WG%20Technical%20Memo_FINAL.pdf
22
Center for Neighborhood Technology. 2019. AllTransit.
23
Regional Transportation Authority. 2021. Adopted 2022 Operating Budget, Two-Year
Financial Plan, and Five-Year Capital Program.
https://www.rtachicago.org/sites/default/files/documents/businessandfinance/operatin
gbudget/2022/Adopted%202022%20RTA%20Budget%20Book.pdf
24
National Transit Database. 2020. Transit Agency Profiles.
25
City of Chicago. TIF Districts. https://webapps1.chicago.gov/ChicagoTif/
26
IDOT. Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Estimate Impact on Transportation.
https://idot.illinois.gov/Assets/uploads/files/Transportation-System/Fact-
Sheets/Rebuild-Illinois/IIJA-fact-sheet.pdf
27
American Public Transportation Association. 2021. Economic Impact of Public
Transportation Investment. https://www.apta.com/research-technical-
resources/research-reports/economic-impact-of-public-transportation-investment/
28
Illinois Department of Transportation. Redefine the Drive.
https://northdusablelakeshoredrive.org/PublicInputOpportunity
29
Chicago Department of Transportation, Chicago Transit Authority. 2022. Why Better
Streets for Buses?. https://betterstreetsforbuses.com/why-better-streets-for-buses-
review-of-existing-conditions
30
Chicago Department of Transportation. 2021. Strategic Plan for Transportation.
https://www.chicago.gov/content/dam/city/depts/cdot/CDOT%20Projects/Strategic_Pla
n/Strategic_Plan_for_Transportation21.pdf
31
Chicago Department of Transportation. 2021. Strategic Plan for Transportation.
https://www.chicago.gov/content/dam/city/depts/cdot/CDOT%20Projects/Strategic_Pla
n/Strategic_Plan_for_Transportation21.pdf

32
Illinois Department of Transportation. 2019. Long Range Transportation Plan.
https://idot.illinois.gov/Assets/uploads/files/About-
IDOT/Misc/Planning/IDOT_LRTP_4_Mobility_Final.pdf
33
U.S. Department of Transportation. 2016. Bus rapid transit: elements, performance,
benefits. https://www.transit.dot.gov/sites/fta.dot.gov/files/BRTBrochure.pdf
34
Ibid.
35
Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning. 2017. Transit ridership growth study.
https://www.cmap.illinois.gov/documents/10180/0/Transit+Ridership+Growth+Study_fi
nal.pdf/21bca990-9e7a-4af9-8ec1-6b8c8b11fd16
36
Metro Transit. 2019. Light rail, bus rapid transit lines set annual ridership records.
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Contents

About this Document 3

A New Future for Transit is Possible with Stable Funding 16

We’re Moving Forward with an Agenda for Advocacy and Action 33

Action Agenda Detail 51

Transit is the Answer - Regional Transit Strategic Plan DRAFT 3

Transit is the Answer - Regional Transit Strategic Plan DRAFT 4

• Collaboratively begin development of three regional action plans to program

Transit is the Answer - Regional Transit Strategic Plan DRAFT 5

Transit is the Answer…Creating Economic Output

Transit is the Answer - Regional Transit Strategic Plan DRAFT 6

New Process, New Voices

Transit is the Answer - Regional Transit Strategic Plan DRAFT 7

• Which key financial issues should be addressed through this process?

• Guest speakers at the RTA Board of Directors meetings Fall 2021

• Public forum held with the University of Illinois-Chicago

• Stakeholder (“Movers” Group) workshop

• Social media, blog, and newsletter updates

Transit is the Answer - Regional Transit Strategic Plan DRAFT 8

• Three stakeholder working groups on Transit Service, Financial Responsibility, and

• Two public input surveys, garnering thousands of responses

• Five workshops with Service Board and CMAP staff

• Eight in-person engagement events across the six counties

• More than 50 presentations to partners, stakeholders, and county boards

Transit is the Answer - Regional Transit Strategic Plan DRAFT 9

Transit is the Answer - Regional Transit Strategic Plan DRAFT 10

Transit is the Answer - Regional Transit Strategic Plan DRAFT 11

White Workers All Workers Latinx Workers Black Workers

Transit is the Answer - Regional Transit Strategic Plan DRAFT 12

Figure 4: Annual Transportation Costs for Chicago Area Households

Annual Transit Cost (CTA + Pace Annual Cost of Owning/Operating Car

Transit is the Answer - Regional Transit Strategic Plan DRAFT 13

Changes in Travel Patterns

Transit is the Answer - Regional Transit Strategic Plan DRAFT 14

Transit is the Answer - Regional Transit Strategic Plan DRAFT 15

Operating Funding That Comes from Fares is Not

Transit is the Answer - Regional Transit Strategic Plan DRAFT 16

Figure 7: Projected Annual Operating Expenses and Revenues Including Budget

Inaction, Service Cuts, and Fare Increases are Not Acceptable –

Transit is the Answer - Regional Transit Strategic Plan DRAFT 17

The Agencies are Working Toward Multi-Pronged Solutions

Transit is the Answer - Regional Transit Strategic Plan DRAFT 18

Criterion Definition Rating Scale

Low: Fluctuation is significant and

Low: The source has little alignment

Low: The source is regressive,

Low: The revenue source represents a

The amount of resources

High: The revenue source is already in

Transit is the Answer - Regional Transit Strategic Plan DRAFT 19

• Implement Congestion Pricing This option involves a congestion pricing

Transit is the Answer - Regional Transit Strategic Plan DRAFT 20

Transit is the Answer - Regional Transit Strategic Plan DRAFT 21

Nexus Ease of Projected

Implement High High Medium Low More than 5 years

Expand RETT Low Medium Medium Low 2 to 5 years

Increase State Medium Medium Medium High

End State Medium Medium Medium High