With a looming transit crisis facing the city of Chicago, we recently delivered a plea to the Chicago City Council’s main transportation committee, urging them to do whatever is needed to prevent possible devastating cuts to our transit system.
Hundreds of thousands of riders depend on CTA every day. Yet, as most of us are painfully aware, public transit throughout the region stands at the brink of a major crisis.
This spring, lawmakers left Springfield without finalizing a solution to the transit fiscal cliff—a $770 million budget deficit facing Northeast Illinois transit agencies.
If the state legislature does not take action soon, the region could see 40 percent of its transit service eliminated.
Here’s the public comment our Advocacy Manager Alex Perez delivered to Chicago City Council’s Committee on Transportation and the Public Way on July 30, 2025.
Chairman Mitchell and Members of the Committee on Transportation and the Public Way:
On behalf of Active Transportation Alliance’s thousands of members and supporters, thank you for taking the time to focus on the critical role transit plays in keeping our city moving.
As you know, our state leaders continue to work towards a sustainable solution to fully fund our transit system, including the CTA, as we face an unprecedented funding and governance crisis.
We thank you for the resolution this committee passed in support of transit funding and reform earlier this year and ask that you join us in continuing to advocate with members of the Illinois General Assembly to take swift action to provide the necessary resources the CTA and other transit providers in our region and across the state need.
In the meantime, we urge the city and CTA to do everything they can to avoid service cuts, including spending all remaining COVID relief dollars
Without action, our transit agencies will be forced to make devastating cuts that would slash 40% of train and bus service. Should this come to pass, residents in each and every one of your wards will be faced with unnecessary and avoidable hardship.
Just imagine being unable to get to work, school, or medical appointments. This is precisely the future that is waiting for us without new and robust investment.
We need your leadership. No one can remain on the sidelines in this fight.
Even in the midst of a crisis, it’s important for us to remember not only the risk of harm threatened by cuts, but the transformative impact increased investment in transit can and will have on our lives.
And indeed, despite the looming fiscal shortfall, CTA has been giving us a taste of what we can expect if we fund transit at the level it deserves.
Rail stations are being improved throughout the system, including the recent opening of four new accessible stations on the Red Line.
The CTA’s frequent bus network is delivering faster and more reliable bus service on our most important routes.
CTA is piloting new approaches to public safety and partnering with community organizations to ensure everyone feels safe on transit.
We can see so many more exciting improvements like these to Chicago’s transit if the general assembly does its job and delivers sustainable funding and meaningful governance reform.
Because despite the green shoots of progress we’ve seen in these uncertain times, we still have a long way to go to have the safe, reliable, and equitable transit system Chicago deserves.
Chicago is woefully behind peer cities when it comes to speeding up bus service by providing dedicated bus lanes.
Despite years of planning and study, CTA and CDOT’s Better Streets for Buses program has made little concrete progress.
As the body that oversees CDOT, we encourage you to remember that this agency’s leadership on bus lanes and other transit infrastructure is essential should we wish to be successful.
Active Transportation Alliance and our partners in the Transportation Equity Network have been hosting transit town halls across the city with community-based partners and the message we have heard is clear: Residents in your wards are eager for faster buses and more reliable trains.
Please work with us to meet this moment and ensure every Chicago with have access to world-class public transit.