Your ticket to ride is going up

Sun-Times:

It looks like CTA fares will be going up in 2009 for the first time in three years.

CTA President Ron Huberman didn't come right out and say that after testifying Thursday before a City Council committee. But he might as well have.

"Ultra-low diesel, which is what we use on our buses, has increased 80 percent. Next year, we will be spending $50 million more for the same quantity of fuel than we spent the prior year. Electrical costs are coming in over 25 percent higher than they were the prior year," Huberman said.

"The real estate transfer tax is coming in substantially below what we had anticipated. The sales tax is coming in at 9 percent below. And the free rides program is also impacting our bottom line. When you take a look at the totality of those factors, it is creating a very challenging budget year."

Huberman won't officially lower the boom until next Thursday when the CTA budget is unveiled. A CTA board meeting is scheduled for the following day. But it sure sounds like a done deal.

"I cannot stand here today and say it's going to happen. I can tell you we're seriously contemplating it," he said, refusing to say how much.

It should be noted that also in this article the chairman of the RTA, Jim Reilly, said that rising costs and sagging revenues could cause CTA and Pace to raise their fares. He says that it wasn't a bad thing because in the past fare increases had been delayed until there was a crisis. At which point there are large increases that unduly burden transit passengers.

BTW, the RTA (Regional Transit Authority) is an overseeing agency over the CTA, Pace, & Metra.