Progress Illinois

The chorus of transit activists criticizing Gov. Pat Quinn's budget proposal seems to be growing. During a press conference late last week, the Transportation for Illinois Coalition (TFIC) -- a collection of Chicago civic groups -- joined State Rep. Julie Hamos (D-Evanston) and State Sen. Martin Sandoval (D-Chicago) in voicing their displeasure with the proposed capital plan as Greg Hinz reported.

TFIC is none too pleased with the allocations. Recently, the organization reduced its request for transportation infrastructure from $23 billion over five years to $13.5 billion over five years. But Chicago Metropolis 2020 Vice President Jim LaBelle told Illinois Issue's Bethany Jaeger that funding such a “minimally adequate, maintenance- and safety-focused program" would still require a 13-cent increase in the state’s motor fuel tax, a measure Quinn doesn't favor. Brian Imus, director of the Illinois Public Interest Research Group, agrees that the need for investment far outweighs what Quinn has offered to cover. "The state hasn’t provided a dime of transit capital funding for five years," he told the Chi-Town Daily News. "It’s not a surprise to discover commuters struggling with broken down buses and slow train service.

To be fair, the governor is hampered by structural barriers beyond his control, as a few astute readers pointed out in the comment section of our first post on the topic. For starters, the federal government provides most of the surface transportation funds used by the state. As is well documented, those funding mechanisms have disproportionately favored roads for over 60 years. 

The state funding structure is out of whack as well. As one anonymous commenter noted in the same thread, until the state identifies and implements progressive funding reform for transit capital and operating, including reducing the extraordinarily high "recovery ratio" currently straining the system, "this is all just dancing around a growing sinkhole." But in the meantime, Quinn should still pursue creative means to invest in the state's mass transit infrastructure. Reallocating some of those budget outlays is a good place to start.

Image used under the Creative Commons license by Flickr user Thomas.Merton.