Chicago Transit Report Calls for Income-Based Fares, Paratransit Funding

A report from the Chicago area’s Regional Transit Authority (RTA) highlights the system’s overreliance on fare revenue and recommends additional state funding for free and reduced-fare programs for low-income riders.

According to a Streetsblog Chicago article by John Greenfield, “The RTA, the CTA, Metra, and Pace have at least 15 specialized free and reduced fare programs, such as the RTA's Ride Free and Reduced Fare programs, which currently have 317,000 people enrolled and provided more than 82 million rides last year.” The report asserts that fully funding the Paratransit and reduced fare programs is necessary, but will raise the projected budget gap to roughly $730 million by 2026. 

“The RTA report recommends addressing that challenge by creating an income-based reduced fare program called Regional Access. It also calls [for] full state funding of ADA Paratransit and Regional Access, which would help reduce the $730 million budget gap. Lastly, it proposes unlocking collaborative pricing policies across the region by investing in technology and funding reform.” The report also highlights the benefits of a regional fare that would let riders transition seamlessly across systems.