Now the focus shifts to capital cash
We all boarded our usual buses and trains today at the same fare we paid last week. Doomsday was averted.
But in fact, for every mile we ride on the old buses and roll past rail tracks in need of upgrade, we inch closer to another Doomsday. That's why we need to solve the crisis of capital spending for the CTA.
An estimated $6.3 billion in capital repairs and upgrades remains unfunded in the CTA's five-year capital improvement budget. Current spending is pegged at $2.4 billion. which is set aside to fix slow zones, overhaul and replace the fleet, make general repairs, and complete the Brown Line expansion.
Unfunded projects in the $6.3 billion include track and track bed renewal, replacement of subway lighting and ventilation systems, viaduct repairs, and station upgrades.
Obviously, the need is great, and the task is daunting. But we have to keep up the pressure on both state and federal legislators. We avoided one Doomsday. Let's not face another.
Budget source: CTA President's 2008 Budget Recommendations
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Posted by: William Parker | January 21, 2008 at 09:21 PM
Hey, what's going on in CTA's planning department? I heard everyone is getting fired and has to reapply for their jobs? That's not going to be too helpful with an infusion of cash that needs people to decide the best way to spend it!
Posted by: NoGiftsPlease | January 22, 2008 at 08:51 PM
The planning department story, if true, is interesting. Is this a cut, or a removal of dead wood? Or a removal of people with a different vision from Huberman? I could see reasons for any of the above.
Having in-house planners is important, though -- you don't want to blow it all on consultants, which is what happens too often these days in the public sector.
But first, we've got to get this tax-phobic governor and legislature to realize they have a revenue problem, and it isn't going to be solved by casinos. I'm not sure how they can be convinced of that; this isn't one of those things where voting for the other party is going to necessarily solve the problem.
Posted by: DBX | January 22, 2008 at 10:13 PM
Among other things, it would be a good time to write a very nice note of appreciation to Julie Hamos, as well as to any other legislator we know about who has tried to do the right thing here. Let's let her know we have followed and appreciate her efforts and will continue to support her as she goes on to seek a decent level of capital funding.
I also just found out, via Eric Zorn's column in the Trib, that in November we get our once-in-twenty-years chance to vote for a state constitutional convention. Zorn seems to think, for some reason, that just because Illinois voters persist in electing and re-electing the likes of Blagojevich, we'll cave at the last minute and pass up the chance to reform our government (sarcasm, or at least sardonicism, intended here). I for one am going to vote "yes." Are we really that likely to come up with something worse than we've got now? Not that a rewrite of the state constitution will undo the politicians' culture of corruption and incompetence that has taken such deep root here, or the voters' culture that seems to set no floor at all for what we will tolerate from those whose pretty damn high salaries and pensions we're paying. But at least we might have a chance to lay out the possibility for reform--by limiting the powers of legislative leaders, for example, or allowing for a graduated income tax.
I'll just post a link to one organization, the Illinois Citizens Coalition, that is pushing this: http://www.illinoiscitizenscoalition.com/
I should say that at this point I don't know any more than anyone else about this organization, but their site might make a good starting point.
Posted by: Quondam El Rat | January 23, 2008 at 01:43 PM