First chunk of new transit money to be spent on security, service for CTA, Metra and Pace

The Regional Transit Authority plans to spend the first batch of historic transit law money on expanded security and service for the CTA, Metra and Pace.

RTA officials outlined in a Thursday board meeting how more than half of the expected $300 million in new cash would be used to address safety and service, each identified as priorities in a survey of Chicago transit riders.

The new money will start kicking in June 1, when the RTA is replaced by NITA, the Northern Illinois Transit Authority, which will have expanded powers over the transit agencies it oversees. That money will be raised by hiking the RTA sales tax by 0.25% and diverting 5% of the gas sales tax to transit.

The biggest chunk of cash, $20 million, will extend funding through the end of the year to cover more Chicago police officers patrolling the CTA, Maulik Vaishnav, RTA's director of planning, told the board.

There are 180 Chicago police officers working the department's volunteer overtime transit unit, Vaishnav said. The CTA and police department raised the number of officers patrolling the system in December and March in response to a funding threat from the federal government.

Another $10 million will go to funding more K-9 patrols on the CTA, Vaishnav said.

On Metra, nearly $4 million will go to adding 14 Metra police officers, and six sergeants and captains. That money will also go to new body cameras and adding late-night security on the BNSF line.

About $12 million will go to the Cook County sheriff's office, which began patrolling the CTA Red Line in March as part of the CTA's revised safety program.

Another $2.5 million will go to the sheriff's office to create a public safety task force, which will create a security plan for Chicago-area transit. The task force is a requirement of the NITA law, and could eventually decide if NITA creates its own transit police force.

Beyond safety, the updated RTA budget includes tens of millions of dollars for service improvements, many of which are already in the works. Ten million dollars each will go to fix CTA slow zones and rail car maintenance. A million dollars will go to automated bus lane enforcement expansion, and $3 million will go to improving bus schedule reliability on 35 routes.

The RTA is also setting aside more than $5 million to modernize transit signs and provide real-time updates on elevator statuses across the three transit agencies.

The budget also includes $10 million to expand a Metra reduced-fare pilot for low-income CTA and Pace riders.

The board expects to vote next month on amending its 2026 budget, first approved in December. The NITA law was passed in Springfield last fall and signed by Gov. JB Pritzker in December.