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Transportation
Quick Hit
by Adam Doster
12:46pm
Thu Nov 4, 2010

High-Speed Rail Stalled At The Station?

High-speed rail trains, a mode of transportation America was finally getting serious about, might never leave the station now that Republicans have gained ground nationally.

During the last two years, the federal government made more investments in its burgeoning high-speed rail network than ever before. The Obama administration devoted $8 billion in stimulus funds and billions more in the last two budgets to jump-start construction on targeted projects across the country. Gov. Pat Quinn and Illinois lawmakers relished the opportunity; the Quinn administration applied several times for federal funding to support new projects and the General Assembly established the Illinois High Speed Rail Commission so the state could evaluate best-practices for designing and financing its system going forward. Construction on several routes began earlier this fall.

All of that progress may be for naught. Although the GOP representative slated to chair the House Transportation Committee says he is a strong supporter of bullet trains, he told the AP that he wants to "re-examine" the federal grants already distributed by the president before he allows any more cash to be spent on the initiative. And in neighboring Wisconsin and Ohio, two newly-elected Republican governors have already suggested that they would halt their own projects, thereby disrupting huge chunks of the Midwest rail corridor centered around Chicago. That means they would also cede the immense environmental and economic benefits transit investments in the region promise.

Quick Hit
by Micah Maidenberg
2:40pm
Wed Sep 29, 2010

Holding The Line At CTA -- For 2011, At Least

Straphangers, bus riders, and transit workers across Chicagoland can breath a short sigh of relief this afternoon -- there won't be any service cuts to the already depleted Chicago Transit Authority system in 2011 (9 percent of rail and 18 percent of bus service was lopped off last year; more than 1,000 CTA employees lost their jobs), and rate hikes are also off the table for 2011. That's according to the more than $1.3 billion CTA budget (PDF) proposed for the agency's operations for next year.

Still, the Chicago region's main mass transit agency is facing a broad set of fiscal challenges. It will borrow $113 million in capital improvement dollars to keep service and rates the same come January 1. The City of Chicago's 2008 real estate transfer tax increase, meant to help CTA pay its pension obligations, hasn't produced sufficient revenues. For this year, the transfer fee is expected to come in at more than $100 million less than what the agency projected at the time Chicago's City Council passed the transfer tax hike (read more about that tax here). Even as it borrows from its capital dollar pool, the agency calculates it has $6.8 billion in unfunded capital needs. 

Like so many other issues, the CTA's woes probably can't be solved without progressive leadership in Springfield. Recall some of the recommendations in Metropolis 2020's recent report on transportation and transit in Illinois: a governor needs to create a Transportation Advisory Commission to clearly articulate policy; the rigid funding formulas that pay for CTA need reform; and the General Assembly should consider doubling the state's gasoline tax. 

Quick Hit
by Micah Maidenberg
1:54pm
Tue Sep 28, 2010
1 comment

Express Trains And Funding Priorities

While visiting China and South Korea earlier this month, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley talked up his plan for a so-called express train service between O'Hare Airport and the Loop. Express train service deserves the "so-called" modifier because unless the rail and engineering specs have changed dramatically since the CTA released a 2006 study (PDF) about the project, the assumption is that express service trains would zip between O'Hare and its terminus in the Loop in 30 minutes under one scenario or 25 minutes under another.

That means a 15-to-20-minute time savings for travelers versus the 45-minute Blue Line trip between O'Hare and downtown assumed by the '06 study. But to be fair to current Blue Line service, the CTA says that you can board a train at O'Hare on a weekday at 2:00 p.m. and arrive at the Clark and Lake station downtown 39 minutes later. So for some trips, express train service would save as little as nine minutes, based on the CTA's '06 analysis. Shockingly, an informal survey around the Progress Illinois office suggested that staffers would prefer paying the regular CTA rate for a maximum 45-minute Blue Line train trip to O'Hare versus the assumed $17 rate for a 30-minute trip on Daley's hoped-for express service. 

Though the mayor says private investors want to design, build, operate and maintain an express train service here, taxpayers won't be off the hook. More than $172 million in public money has already been committed to just building an express service superstation at Block 37. A more recent planning document, the transportation section (PDF) in 2009's Central Area Action Plan, lists express rail service for O'Hare and Midway as costing $1.5 billion. Federal and state dollars are listed as potential funding sources for construction of such service.

But federal and state capital dollars are limited. The CTA has other important projects it is seeking to fund through the next federal transportation bill -- like the long-awaited Red Line extension to the Far South Side, for example. Such proposals should be at the front of the line for public funds versus those that would save travelers a few minutes here and there. So unless Daley's private investors are ready to pony up for the entirety of this project, maybe it's time to scrap the Zombie O'Hare Express Train altogether. It's yet another call the next mayor will have to make.