Chicago’s future hangs in balance as the city’s public transit system nears a looming fiscal cliff. At the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce’s latest “Chicago at a Crossroads” executive forum on Monday, May 5, transit experts, policy veterans, and business leaders convened to discuss the path forward for a system that millions rely on daily.
The forum, titled Next Stop, Economic Vitality: The High-Stakes Future of Chicago Transit, highlighted the urgency of securing a sustainable financial solution before the end of the Illinois General Assembly’s spring session. Without action, drastic service cuts across CTA, Metra, and Pace will take effect in 2026, leaving one in five workers in Chicago without a transit option for commuting, gutting services, and eliminating nearly 3,000 transit jobs.
The discussion opened with Morgan Smith, Vice President at The Harris Poll, who shared insights from a recent survey of Chicago-area business leaders. The results made clear: transit remains a critical component of regional economic health, but public confidence is fragile and funding solutions are politically complex.
“There is great support for the system generally. Residents think very highly of the system we have here,” said Michael Arndt, Director of Communications at The Harris Poll. “But the number one reason that people don’t ride public transit is because they don’t think it’s useful for them—especially in the suburbs where about 90% of people are driving their car every single day.”
Chicagoland Chamber CEO Jack Lavin moderated the panel, guiding a candid conversation on ridership, reliability, safety, and funding reform with Kirk Dillard, Chairman of the Regional Transportation Authority, and Carole Brown, former CFO of the City of Chicago and past CTA Chair.
Dillard emphasized both the existential threat facing transit and its immense economic value. “We’re asking for $1.5 billion dollars, but we produce $2.5 billion dollars in economic activity, and that number would jump another couple billion if we got the funding we needed,” he said. “If you think it’s crowded out there now, we’ll have absolute gridlock if the legislature doesn’t come up with a funding solution.”
Brown echoed the need for urgency and clarity around the system’s financial foundation. “The State of Illinois has in its statute a required recovery ratio for the operating units. It mandates that CTA covers roughly 50% of its operations from fares,” she said. “That is partly an acknowledgement that the system can’t charge fares sufficient to pay for operations, but also shows the pressure that is on the operating agencies to deliver service.”
Safety and reliability were also focal points of the discussion, as speakers acknowledged the real concerns of riders and the historical context behind reduced service. “Managing the system efficiently means that costs had to be cut. And so because of that, one of the first things you saw was fewer employees at stations. And the last thing—we reduced tremendously the transit police force,” said Brown.
Dillard reinforced this point, stating, “New York has 20 times as many police officers on their system than we do. So, it’s obvious that we need more police officers.”
While riders have mostly returned, with some lines seeing double-digit increases in ridership since the pandemic, the system must adapt to shifting work patterns and higher expectations around frequency and reliability. “Our patterns of working have changed,” said Dillard. “Riders want more frequent and reliable service.”
Still, the road to a funding solution is steep. According to Arndt, “When offered suggestions to pay for increased funding to transit, just over half of participants said the best way was to reallocate existing system funds. When you ask about tax revenue, there’s just no support.”
That presents a dilemma for policymakers and advocates. The public wants better service—but isn’t willing to pay more for it.
Despite these challenges, the panel’s call to action was clear: the business community must step up and advocate for transit funding. “Everyone has a stake in mass transit,” said Dillard. “Talk to your legislators and local officials.”
Brown added, “If enough people speak up, it will let legislators know the importance of this issue.”
As Chicago faces a defining moment for its transit future, the message from the Chamber’s forum was direct: the time for action is now. With the right funding and stakeholder engagement, a more connected, equitable, and economically vibrant region is possible. But without it, the region could face serious setbacks to mobility and economic growth that will be challenging to recover from.
Insights from the Public Transportation Reform Poll conducted by The Harris Poll
- Chicagoans are active transit users
- 6 in 10 Cook County residents and 7 in 10 Chicago residents use public transporation at least once a month
- Riders most frequently reprot using the CTA bus system (76%)
- Necessity and desire most often limit ridership
- 50% polled don’t use because they do not need to; 31% polled prefer other transportation
- 23% of infrequent riders suggest transit takes too long; 19% suggest limited access
- The local public transportation system is generally well-regarded, particularly among riders
- 52% of Cook County residents rate the system in their area positively
- 60% say the system is affordable; 56% say coverage is positive
- Chicagoans generally support investments in their area’s public transportation system
- 9 in 10 residents either strongly (55%) or somewhat (31%) support efforts to improve the transit system in their area
- Nearly as many (79%) support efforts to expand the system in their area
- Investments in public transportation investments are likely considered to be a worthwhile use of tax revenue
- 7 in 10 Cook County residents think that tax revenue should be used to fund investments in their area’s public (74%) or traditional (71%) transportation system
- More than half (56%) think that tax revenue earmarked by the state’s constitution for transportation investments should be distributed evenly between Illinois’s public and traditional transportation systems
- 6 in 10 Cook County residents support specific proposals that would balance tax distribution across transportation investments, which currently favors traditional transportation investments
- Half (53%) think that the state government should reallocate existing funds and revenue sources to support Illinois’s public transportation system
- Support for increasing the amount of revenue earmarked for public transportation does not directly translate to support for increasing the amount of revenue collected
- 46% support funding public transportation by seeking additional revenue from taxes
- Meanwhile, support for specific proposed tax increases is 32% or less
- 39% support funding public transportation by seeking additional revenue from non-tax fees
- From public transportation funding to operations, Chicagoans prioritize protecting riders
- Only 27% of Cook County residents think the state government should fund Illinois’s public transportation system by taking steps that directly impact riders
- 9 in 10 are concerned about the direct or indirect impacts of underfunding the state’s public transportation system in general
- Cook County residents support consolidation and spending cuts
- 49% support creating a single agency to manage the state’s entire public transportation system
- 45% support reducing operational spending in the Chicagoland area by 5%
Learn more about what’s at stake for our region’s transit system and how you can support.