In Coordinating Transit, RTA Still In 1st Gear

By Jon Hilkevitch
Chicago Tribune

February, 10 2003

More than three years and $400,000 ago, the General Assembly told the Regional Transportation Authority to do what the agency could have accomplished on its own much earlier: come up with a plan to integrate bus and rail transit service in Chicago and the suburbs.

The lack of coordination between the Chicago Transit Authority, Metra and Pace was so obvious when lawmakers issued their mandate in 1999 that any self-respecting consultant would've been embarrassed taking taxpayer money to "study" the transit disconnect.

And the solutions to the problems? Ditto. This isn't like trying to figure out what caused the thermal tiles to pop off space shuttle Columbia. It's not even as difficult as tiling a bathroom.

For starters, the lawmakers instructed the CTA and Pace to quit routing buses so they stop two blocks away from Metra stations. In Waukegan, the Metra station is at the bottom of a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan, and the major transfer point is on Washington Street on the top of the bluff. It makes for a lot of huffin' and puffin' for commuters who attempt the trek.

The RTA also was told to push the transit agencies to build adjoining stations where Metra and CTA rail lines now pass each other one block apart without stopping.

In addition, the House's Public Transit Subcommittee advised the RTA, the CTA, Metra and Pace to work out their differences and introduce a universal fare system to replace the 21 different and dizzying fare structures.

It was almost as if the Chicago area had three competing transit agencies instead of one, as if the agencies preferred an overall decline in transit riders instead of ceding customers to a sister agency.

Where do things stand today? How many commuters can point to improvements that have made it easier for them to use mass transit and transfer between transit services to ride instead of drive to work?

Most of the $400,000 given to the RTA for transit coordination has been spent.

And the CTA, Metra and Pace are sticking to their can't-do attitudes, except when trying to stir public interest in mulitbillion-dollar megaprojects such as the CTA's proposed Circle Line rail connector and Metra's suburb-to-suburb STAR Line.

"We had hoped for more energy on transit coordination," said state Rep. Julie Hamos (D-Evanston), chairwoman of the House subcommittee. "All we have seen is a small first step. The legislature continues to believe that the RTA has to either get authority and exercise leadership, or we should reorganize the system."

A bill has been introduced in Springfield to create a universal fare card. Sure, it would be challenging to do, since you can ride from the South Side to Wilmette for $1.50 on the CTA while Metra's fares are based on distance traveled. But other regions that have more transit agencies have successfully switched to a seamless fare- collection system.

Meanwhile, there are rumblings that Gov. Rod Blagojevich is contemplating a two-fer--restructuring the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority and the RTA.

Back at the RTA's luxurious new headquarters in the Loop, the RTA board was updated last week on a plan to improve signs and make physical changes at locations where buses and trains pass like two ships on the Atlantic.

An RTA study (the "small first step" referenced by Hamos) identified 58 "priority" locations in the six-county region where modest physical improvements would make it easier for commuters to transfer between the CTA, Pace and Metra. The study estimated the cost at $5 million, but no funding is available.

Seventeen other strategic high-traffic locations were identified as needing more money, $1 million to $3 million at each site, to encourage more people to travel by transit and transfer between the three transit services. The RTA is seeking federal congestion- mitigation funding to finance the work.

"All 75 locations could stand to have better signage, maybe a better walkway and a bench or a canopy," said RTA spokeswoman Meg Thomas-Reile. "In locations like downtown Joliet where some of the buses stop two blocks away from the Metra station, people want to see an arrow and then another arrow 15 feet away showing them they are walking in the right direction. This is one case where sign pollution is a good thing."
 

RTA board member Valerie Jarrett, also the CTA chairwoman, agreed it's time to end the sorry record of regional miscoordination.

"We owe our customers more than three independently operating service boards," Jarrett said. "I think we are finally beginning to make progress, but there's a lot of low-hanging fruit where we can more successfully tackle these issues."
 

Contact Getting Around at jhilkevitch@tribune.com  or c/o the Chicago Tribune, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611. Read recent Getting Around columns at www.chicagotribune.com/go/ gettingaround.