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The region’s public transit system is beset by assorted problems these days, including crime, dependability issues and a general lack of cleanliness. Now, add one more thing to that list: a staggering $730 million-a-year budget gap that could start hitting the Chicago Transit Authority, Metra and Pace beginning in 2026, according to the Regional Transportation Authority.
Summary and audio linked here.
Chicago’s political leadership is floating a pension buyout program as evidence it is seriously addressing the city’s thirty-six-billion-dollar unfunded pension liability, but Mark Glennon, founder of the Illinois policy research organization Wirepoints, said that the proposal moves debt from one column to another rather than reducing it, and that the broader fiscal picture facing the city continues to deteriorate across every measurable dimension. Audio here.
Expect no retraction or apology. This what they do.
The state’s existing buyout program for its own pensions is the precedent for Chicago, which should be a warning: Look out for similar exaggerated claims and shoddy analysis.
Full interview and summary linked here.
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Hmm, I smell a federal transit bailout for mismanaged Dem big cities like Chicago and NY.
#EmptyPaceBus
TRANSIT DEATH SPIRAL: Sun-Times Wants Taxpayers, Drivers, To Bail Out Chicago’s Obsolete, Irrelevant, Transit Dinosaur Out Of Its Smoking Billion Dollar Budget Crater
There are two solutions, pay more taxes or leave the area.
My guess is everyone will pay more and more taxes. The drivers make more money than most private sector workers. Tough Chitt, shut up and pay your taxes.
Yep, the IL taxpayers will talk them off that fiscal cliff. That’s what we’re here for: to bail out mismanaged public IL institutions. Since we have infinitely deep pockets, there’s little incentive to manage these institutions responsibly. Of course, mismanagement includes paying your workers more than studies would indicate an appropriate wage for the job should be.
To what extent is the problem caused by unpleasant environments and crime?. If these are material problems, the system will not attract riders under any subsidy or economic scheme. Just asking the question.