The Board of the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) has approved a $1.524 billion operating budget for 2017 and a $3.5 billion five-year capital budget for 2017-2021. The operating budget holds the line on fares and preserves bus and rail service levels. The capital budget provides funding for rehabilitating rail stations and building new ones, modernizing rail and bus fleets, removing rail slow zones and adding new technologies.
“CTA’s budget demonstrates our commitment to enhancing bus and rail service and the community experience for our customers, while continuing to operate in a financially sound manner,” stated Terry Peterson, CTA board chairman. “As the nation’s second-largest transit agency, CTA provides vital transit services for millions of riders every year. I am pleased that this responsible, structurally sound budget continues our efforts to better serve Chicagoans across our city and our service area.”
“We are pleased to offer a budget that is truly all about providing excellent service to our customers,” said CTA President Dorval R. Carter, Jr. “This budget invests in safe, affordable and reliable transit as well as enhancing the customer experience, while controlling expenses and seeking ways to increase revenue beyond the farebox to support day-to-day operations.”
CTA’s 2017 operating budget is structurally balanced for the sixth straight year. The 2017 budget freezes base fares for an eighth year and continues the expanded transit service begun in 2015 and 2016. The agency continues to focus on growing revenue through advertising, retail concessions and other non-fare related sources.
Projects that the CTA will complete in 2017 include Wilson Station reconstruction project; Washington-Wabash station; overhaul of 3200-series rail cars on Orange, Brown lines; renovation of Quincy Loop; and Illinois Medical District Blue Line stations.
Projects that the CTA will start in 2017 include selection of a final alignment for a proposed Red Line Extension; continued work on Phase 1 of the Red and Purple Modernization Program; and the Belmont Blue Gateway project.
The CTA will also continue working on the new 95th Street Terminal, upgrading the Blue Line O’Hare branch, and improving the Ravenswood Corridor signals.