CTA Route Map

Interesting news today in the Chicago Transit Authority’s evergreen struggle to provide adequate public transit: two plaintiffs have filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of all CTA black and Latino riders that says the Regional Transit Authority has violated civil rights laws. The Chicago Tribune’s Jon Hilkevitch reports that the plaintiffs contend that the RTA and state of Illinois fund Metra — a train system that serves a mostly white city and suburban population — at the expense of CTA — a subway and bus system that serves the entire city of Chicago. (If you’re confused about the bureaucratic structure of Chicago area public transit, I explained the RTA/CTA/Metra relationship a few months ago).

The prevailing storyline about transit in Illinois is that the state simply doesn’t have the money to provide great public transit. However, the plaintiffs have a point that service cutbacks — like the frequent running of buses — are quicker to come in black and Latino neighborhood’s miles away from the city’s downtown.

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