A group of Senate transit leaders release statement highlighting legislation to fix and fund public transit in Illinois

A group of Senate transit leaders release statement highlighting legislation to fix and fund public transit in Illinois

SPRINGFIELD ─ As public transportation systems across Illinois approach a fiscal cliff in 2026, threats of cuts to service and layoffs of transit workers continue to loom as they await funding and reforms from the Illinois General Assembly.

State Senators Mattie Hunter, Omar Aquino, Robert Peters, Celina Villanueva, Adriane Johnson and Graciela Guzmán have been at the forefront leading legislation to tackle the fiscal cliff and longstanding transit issues through legislation.

The aforementioned members released the following statement to address the need to fix and fund public transit:

"Paratransit users, in the City of Chicago, Suburbs of Cook County, and the Collar Counties, are now seeing cuts to service. All riders will potentially see their fares increased. The ability to address the fact that 95 out of the 100 longest commutes in the Chicago area region stem from Black and Latino communities has been delayed. A new comprehensive safety strategy has not yet been implemented. Accountability measures such as performance metrics, service standards, and much more are not yet in place.

The Senate took action earlier this year by passing House Bill 3438 ─ a package of robust reforms and a transformational $1.7 billion dollar investment into the system that will bring us closer to ensuring everyone has access to safe, reliable, affordable and integrated public transit throughout our entire state.

We strongly believe the specific language as part of the reforms that we supported in House Bill 3438 are necessary to achieve the streamlined governance, increased safety measures, a unified fare system and much more in order to build a public transit system meant to support our communities for decades to come.

We worked to avoid cuts to service and prevent almost 3,000 transit workers from being laid off. We understand the status quo of our public transit systems aren't working for the riders, workers, and taxpayers. There is no time to waste - our communities can't wait."