Regional Transportation Authority (Illinois)

Regional Transportation Authority
Company type	Public agency
Industry	Public transportation
Founded	1974
Headquarters	Chicago, United States
Area served	Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will counties, Illinois
Key people	Executive Director (CEO) (name not specified)
Products	Oversight and financial management of Chicago Transit Authority, Metra, and Pace transit services; travel information hotline; automated trip planning tool; promotional campaigns
Website	www.rtachicago.org

The Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) functions as the financial overseer and supervisory entity for three transit organizations operating in northeastern Illinois: the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), Metra, and Pace. These Service Boards provide transportation services across Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will counties.

With a daily ridership approaching 2 million, the RTA administers the third-largest public transit network in North America. Its offerings include a travel information hotline, an automated trip planning tool, and promotional campaigns encouraging increased transit use.

Overview

The RTA holds the authority to form agreements to deliver transit services not only within its core metropolitan area but also extending into neighboring states such as Indiana and Wisconsin.

Governance

The RTA Board comprises 16 members:

Five appointed by the Mayor of Chicago;
Four elected by the Cook County Board representing areas outside Chicago;
One appointed by the Cook County Board President from outside Chicago;
Five appointed by County Board Chairs from the collar counties;
One Board Chair selected with approval from at least eleven other members representing Chicago, suburban Cook County, and collar counties.

The Chair appoints the executive director—who serves as the CEO—subject to confirmation by a minimum of eleven board members.

1974 establishment

The RTA was created following a 1974 referendum prompted by financial difficulties in regional transit systems. In 1973, significant service reductions were implemented by the CTA, while multiple suburban bus operators ceased functioning, leading communities such as Evanston and Wilmette to establish their own municipal transit services. Major railroad companies like Rock Island and Milwaukee Road declared bankruptcy, and Illinois Central requested fare increases due to rising commuter rail expenses. To address these widespread issues across six counties, the RTA was founded with limited taxation authority to provide financial grants to CTA and suburban transit districts and to manage contracts for service purchases from private bus and rail providers.

1983 restructuring

In response to an early 1980s fiscal crisis and following RTA’s acquisition of private bus lines and commuter railroads, the 1983 amendment to the RTA Act introduced the Suburban Bus Division (now Pace) and Commuter Rail Division (now Metra). The RTA’s responsibilities evolved toward supervising operational and capital planning, formulating annual budgets alongside five-year strategies, and allocating sales tax revenues among Service Boards per statutory formulas. Direct service provision by RTA ceased; instead, Service Boards gained control over service levels, transportation modes offered, fare structures, and entering into purchase of service agreements.

The 1983 legislation required fares to cover at least half of operating costs—with certain exceptions—and mandated that RTA notify each Service Board of its required farebox recovery ratio during budget development. This aimed to reduce subsidy demands that had escalated during the 1970s.

Context

In 2004, confronted with a $55 million funding gap for 2005 operations, CTA advocated for a sustainable funding mechanism involving modifications to sales tax allocations under the RTA Act. The Illinois General Assembly allocated $54 million in 2005 specifically for CTA’s paratransit services. An amendment assigned responsibility for funding and oversight of all ADA paratransit services to the RTA starting July 1, 2005, with operational duties transitioning to Pace by July 1, 2006—thereby relieving CTA of this responsibility. A legislative audit of RTA and Service Boards revealed inadequate public funding levels, underfunded pension plans, elevated salary costs, absenteeism issues, lack of centralized strategic planning, and noted competition among Service Boards for riders and federal resources.

For 2007 budgets, the RTA proceeded on the assumption that new revenue streams would materialize. CTA, Pace, and Metra anticipated additional state appropriations but acknowledged no assurances; CTA warned that without new funds service reductions would be inevitable. When no legislative resolution emerged by August 2007, both CTA and Pace proposed contingency "Doomsday Plans" involving service curtailments effective September 16. These plans were deferred after the Governor suggested advancing subsidies earmarked for 2008. A subsequent Doomsday deadline in November was avoided through reallocations of capital funds. In absence of enacted transit legislation, 2008 budgets assumed no new funding sources—forecasting service cuts by CTA and Pace, postponed capital projects by Metra, alongside fare increases across all three agencies.

Obstacles to passing funding legislation in 2007 included a supermajority requirement after May 31 for immediate enactment; the Governor’s veto threat against any bill proposing sales tax hikes; and legislative linkage between transit financing measures, capital infrastructure plans, and casino-related bills. Facing a January 20, 2008 Doomsday deadline, the Governor urged passage of some form of legislation with intent to modify it through amendatory veto. The Legislature approved HB656 on January 10; the Governor’s amendatory veto incorporated statewide free transit rides for senior citizens. Despite concerns regarding vote durability post-amendment, the final legislation was accepted and passed on January 17, 2008.

Legislative developments

Significant 2008 revisions to the RTA Act involved the following changes:

The RTA sales tax was raised to 1.25% within Cook County and to 0.75% in the collar counties—an increase from the previous rates of 1% and 0.25%, respectively. Of the collar counties' tax, one-third (0.25%) was designated for direct allocation to counties to support transportation or public safety initiatives.
The distribution of revenue was adjusted to preserve earlier allocations at existing rates, with any additional funds divided as 48% for CTA, 39% for Metra, and 13% for Pace.
The legislation required establishing three specific funds: an Innovation, Coordination, and Enhancement Fund; an ADA Paratransit Fund; and a Suburban Community Mobility Fund.
Authorization was granted for an Interstate 55 bus rapid transit project, alongside funding dedicated to job access programs serving south suburban Cook County.
The Executive Director gained authority to mediate disputes among service boards when supported by nine Directors’ votes; with a supermajority of twelve votes, the RTA could take control of environmental assessments for projects involving multiple agencies.
Programs promoting Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Contracting and Equal Employment Opportunity were instituted.
Board restructuring took effect on April 1, 2008: notably, the CTA chairperson was removed from the RTA board, while the Cook County Board President received appointments to both the RTA and Metra boards.

Additional statutes addressed underfunding issues in the CTA Retirement Plan and empowered the Chicago City Council to increase the real estate transfer tax exclusively for CTA financing, a measure that was implemented.

Proposals for reform

Following the 2008 amendments, various initiatives have sought more comprehensive restructuring of regional transit agencies. In response to Metra’s ridership scandal in 2013, state senators Daniel Biss and Terry Link proposed legislation aiming to consolidate the RTA with the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP).

At the same time, Governor Pat Quinn established the Northeastern Illinois Public Transit Task Force, which recommended merging Metra, CTA, and Pace into a unified agency. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel opposed this idea, expressing concerns that it would diminish voter oversight. In 2014, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development also advocated for combining these entities to improve coordination efforts.

Facing financial difficulties exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, CMAP suggested in September 2023 increasing taxes and uniting CTA, Metra, and Pace into a single larger organization. Subsequently, on April 29, 2024, the Illinois General Assembly introduced legislation known as the Metropolitan Mobility Authority Act, proposing to dissolve the RTA along with its three transit agencies and replace them with a new entity called the Metropolitan Mobility Authority.

External links

Regional Transportation Authority official website
Illinois Auditor General: Performance Audit of Mass Transit Agencies in Northeastern Illinois: