Overview

• CTA, Metra and Pace are preparing 2026 budgets that could include widespread service reductions, station closures and layoffs if state revenue isn’t secured by year’s end.
• Federal pandemic aid supporting the agencies expires December 31, exposing a $770 million gap without new taxes or appropriations.
• Any new transit funding measure now requires 60 percent approval in a special or fall session, raising the hurdle for passage.
• Mayor Brandon Johnson has urged lawmakers to tax the “ultra-rich” instead of working families to forestall cuts to bus and rail service.
• Lawmakers had backed creating a Northern Illinois Transit Authority and imposing delivery and rideshare fees, but the proposal collapsed over governance and revenue disputes.