The Chicago Sun-Times Mary Wisniewski reports on the Chicago Transit Authority scaling back service:

Starting Sunday, the CTA cut 18 percent of bus service, 9 percent of rail service. It eliminated 9 express bus routes and cut service hours on 41 other routes. The CTA is also cutting 1,057 jobs and closing the 102-year-old Archer Garage.

The cuts were needed to make up a $95 million budget deficit, which the agency blames on low sales tax and property transfer tax revenues.

This is partly a story of economic forces beyond the control of a local transportation agency. Wisniewski focuses on how union concessions could undo some service cuts. But there are more immediate actions CTA and the state of Illinois could take. First, there’s the question of whether low-income minorities are unduly hit by the service cuts: a lawsuit contends this has happened and from scanning the list of impacted bus routes, the more affluent lakefront area seems less affected then the city’s west side.

Also, thanks to the state government, the CTA has indefensibly continued to give free rides for anybody and everybody over 65. Introduced by Rod Blagojevich, the free ride for seniors program costs the transit system $60 million each year. Non-seniors, meanwhile, have seen the price of one ride increase twice in the past four years (it’s now $2.25). Maybe as a compromise seniors could pay the “2005 vintage price” of $1.75 a ride.

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