CTA officials on Thursday warned they might be forced to eliminate 24-hour service next year, with buses and trains possibly running only from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., if state lawmakers don’t provide hundreds of millions in funding to bail out the Chicago area’s three mass transit agencies.
From budget woes to safety concerns, CTA passengers sounded off on the mass transit agency at a townhall meeting on Thursday, as agency leaders warned again of dire service cuts without additional funding from Springfield.
The CTA, Metra, and Pace face a combined $771 million budget shortfall in 2026, and have warned of service cuts as high as 40% without new revenue from the state.
As lawmakers negotiate on how to help the Chicago area’s mass transit agencies avoid those cuts, CTA leaders told riders on Thursday that they are preparing for two budget scenarios for next year – one with the money they are seeking to avoid cuts, and the other without additional money from Springfield.
CTA officials warned, if that money doesn’t come in, not only would passengers see cuts in service, but buses and trains could stop running at 9 p.m. nightly.
With 1 million people riding CTA trains and buses daily, there’s no doubt it is essential to Chicagoans.
Will Flinner was one of dozens of riders who packed Truman College on Thursday to hear what CTA leaders are bracing for with their budget woes.
“I recently moved to Chicago and one of the reasons was transit,” he said. “Currently, I am unemployed, so I’m on the job hunt, and a lot of the jobs that I’m applying for are not near me. So I take the ‘L’ most of the time just to get to job interviews or just to put in applications.”
Services he depends on, and more than 310 miles of CTA networks are on the verge of reducing services if state dollars don’t come in.
“Illinois is dead last when it comes to funding transportation,” CTA budget director Lisa Smith said.
CTA officials warned that federal COVID relief funding has dried up, and its funding gap is projected to get bigger each year starting in 2026.
Without additional funding from Springfield, the CTA said operating hours for buses and trains could get cut drastically next year.
“We may have to cut back hours, and if we are forced to cut hours, our service may start at 6 in the morning and end at 9 p.m.,” said Elsa Gutierrez, the CTA’s vice president of scheduling & service planning.
Fewer routes and restricted hours leave many worried.
“My concerns are very much the fare going up; or either cutting some lines, some buses, or anything like that that I usually take,” CTA rider Carlos Barrientos said.
Barrientos rides CTA day and night. In addition to his fears about the agency’s budget woes, he also wanted to hear leadership address riders’ safety concerns.
“I don’t feel safe, I’ll be honest with you. Just as crazy it gets out here in the city, I don’t feel safe,” he said.
His concerns were heightened after Chicago police issued a community alert about the man who attacked two riders on a bus on the West Side.
In addition, three CTA workers have been attacked over the past month, leaving their coworkers fearing for their safety.
“It’s a continuing cycle that this is happening to my members, and it’s upsetting,” said Pennie McCoach, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 30, which represents the CTA’s rail workers. “The workers don’t feel safe. They don’t feel confident that the company has their best interest in hand when it comes to protection.”
As CTA continues to urge lawmakers to provide more funding next year, CTA Acting President Nora Leehrsen insisted security is just as high of a priority, touting the new the Chicago Police Department’s new Public Transportation Section Strategic Decision Support Center, which monitors crime at CTA stations.
“This has access to CTA cameras. It’s staffed with police, with detectives, and it creates a really heightened awareness and observation from police,” Leerhsen said.
As CTA calls state lawmakers to pass a funding plan during their fall veto session, riders said they want to feel safe and not worry about those potential cuts that will impact their lives.
CTA will hold its final budget town hall meeting on Sept. 25 at Malcolm X College.
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