Taxpayers Fund Union Raises While the CTA Cuts Service

In 2009, the CTA received $25 million in direct funding from the state but it still needed to cut service to close a budget deficit after union workers refused to return a 3.5% pay raise.

by Mark Cavers

In 2009, Illinois gave the Chicago Transit Authority $25,574,538.61, and $24,952,432 of that amount came in the form of transportation grants.  The remaining $622,106.61 was given to the CTA for rendering professional services.  These payments all came from the Illinois Department of  transportation.  On top of this, the CTA also received $247,176,443 from the Federal Government as part of the Stimulus Bill.

Additionally, the Department of Transportation gave the Regional Transportation Authority $377,318,882.66 in transportation grants in 2009.  The RTA oversees the second largest transportation network in North America and coordinates and funds the “Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) bus and rail system, Metra commuter rail, and Pace suburban bus service.”

According to the Chicago Tribune, the CTA recently instituted service cuts in an effort to close a 95.6 million dollar budget deficit brought on by the union’s unwillingness to return a 3.5% wage increase they received during 2009.  In spite of receiving almost $25 million in direct taxpayer funding and a portion of the almost $400 million given to the RTA, the CTA found it necessary to cut services and continue to cover the cost of raises for union workers.

In total, the Department of Transportation paid $127,963,900.78 in transportation grants to local government transit organizations.   For example, the St. Clair County Transit District received $31,747,435.00, the Champaign Urbana Mass Transit received $16,789,715.49, and the Madison County Mass-Transit received $14,434,502.24 in transportation grants from the Department of Transportation in 2009 (please see the table below for a complete breakdown of the transit authorities that received transportation grants).

You can find this information by going to IllinoisOpenGov.org, clicking on the “Checks to Businesses & People” section and searching for “Chicago Transit Authority” and “Region Transportation” under the “vendor” category or “transportation grants” in the “category of spending” section.