A new poll shows Illinoisans support merging Chicago area’s four transit agencies by a two-to-one ratio.
The poll is one of the first indications of public support for the pending Metropolitan Mobility Act, a state bill that could combine the Chicago Transit Authority, Metra, Pace and Regional Transit Authority into one agency.
The poll of 600 likely voters shows broad support is shared between the city of Chicago and collar counties.
The poll found 54% of Chicago residents support the merger versus 27% against it. In suburban Cook County, 53% of those surveyed support a merger versus 19% against it.
The poll found even higher support, 72%, when voters were told a Civic Federation analysis estimated the merger could eliminate up to $250 million in administrative overlap.
The poll, conducted Sept. 16-19, had a margin of error of 4 percentage points. It was funded by the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition and conducted by the Global Strategy Group.
The bill’s supporters have proposed combining the agencies to cut down on administrative expenses and increase regional transit planning. In exchange, transit agencies will receive $1.5 billion in state funding needed to avoid the “fiscal cliff” in 2026 when federal COVID-19 grants run dry. The agencies face a combined $730 million budget shortfall.
Elected officials signaled their support for a merger in a news conference Wednesday before the transit bosses were expected to present their budget proposals before the Cook County Board of Commissioners.
State Rep. Mary Beth Canty, a Democrat from Arlington Heights, said a merger could eliminate the inefficiencies of the current arrangement she saw when she was a member of the RTA board.
“What I was struck by when I was on that board was the lack of control that the RTA had over the region,” she said. “There wasn’t a way for the RTA to require the three service agencies to work together. You either passed their budgets or you didn’t.”
State Rep. Eva-Dina Delgado, the bill’s chief House sponsor and a Chicago Democrat, said the “first step in transforming transit is unifying these transit agencies.”
State Sen. Robert Peters, D-Chicago, said the transit agencies are run like “little fiefdoms” that don’t help people with transit the way they could.
He said many people polled didn’t respond positively when they learned the four transit boards have spent $2 million on lobbyists, a figure provided in the poll based on public figures. Seventy-four percent of those polled supported a merger after hearing that figure.
State legislators have held a series of hearings on the bill this year across the state. The hearings have brought out many supportive voices for a merger.
But they’ve also received significant pushback from the four transit agencies. The transit agency bosses have said the current system, which has four boards staffed by 47 members appointed by 21 elected officials, is best suited to meet the needs of residents.
The bosses say they are being held back from providing better service due to an outdated state funding model, where the state provides only 17% of funding for their budgets — the lowest of any state with a major city. By comparison, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts provide 40-50% of transit funding.
Read the poll: