“Today’s release of the Illinois Auditor General’s report on mass transit agencies’ performance underscores the need for transparency and accountability to go hand in hand with better funding.
Anyone who relies on transit doesn’t need to read the Auditor General’s to know our transit system is inefficient and fails to keep pace with the growing needs of its riders. However, the Auditor General’s report does help demonstrate that the answer isn’t just ‘more money.’ There is also a need for significant reform if we are to restore a world-class transit system that benefits the citizens and the economy of the entire region.
The report released today can guide state lawmakers on what they can do to improve Northeastern Illinois’ transit systems. In doing so, there are three clear issues lawmakers must wrestle with.
First, part and parcel with any improvement in transit funds, we must ensure transit agencies are accountable and transparent to the public.
Second, transit must be efficient, both in its internal management and with the dollars it spends. Different layers of transit bureaucracy must be eliminated.
Finally, transit needs to be adequately and reliably funded. The auditor general’s report highlights the need for new funding to improve and repair our transit system. Accountability and funding are complements, not substitutes, for one another. They must go hand in hand.
There is an exciting opportunity to achieve these goals this year. Lawmakers should avoid mistakes made in the past. Transit funding must be diversified and dedicated so that transit systems can plan on meeting operating expenses and can issue low-cost bonds for capital projects. Sharing the responsibility equitably is necessary to ensure a world-class system that benefits all parts of our region.
With these three principles guiding the debate, 2007 could be the year state lawmakers fix transit shortfalls for decades to come. Better transit systems will mean less congestion on our roads that will save Illinoisans millions in waste on extra gas and time stuck in traffic. We can’t afford not to improve accountability and funding”
