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Passengers took 74 million rides in 2019, but annual ridership fell 75% in 2020 and has yet to climb back above 25 million. The growth that has occurred, though, caused Metra to draw $94 million less federal COVID relief funding than expected this year, said chief financial officer John Morris.
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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I’ve noticed trains are full again but there’s fewer cars and less trains. My route had three trains per hour during rush hour and now it has two per hour. And of course Metra has not added additional trains or cars yet.
All the marketing in the world cannot reverse the damage done by Zoom, Kim Foxx and Illinois Politicians. Zoom negates the need for in person anything, Kim Foss not prosecuting crime in Cook County scared casual Metra users away, and Illinois politicians have given businesses and taxpayers reason to depart the region, most for good.
All Metra can do now is fire all the politicians’ pals who have been suckling at the trough too long, then service simply has to contract, or be ‘right-sized’ as the MBAs used to say.
The Metra salad days are over.
Broke Metra — With Half Its Riders Gone For Good — Is Delusional On Ridership Future