(The Center Square) – Earlier this week, the Chicago Transit Authority put out a news release stating that its ridership was setting a “post-pandemic record.”
What CTA didn’t say was the ridership was the post-pandemic record 6.5 million riders from Oct. 15-21 was 26% below the pre-pandemic peak levels. That’s when the transit agency had 8.8 million riders the week of Jan. 26-Feb. 1 2020. The ridership data is from the American Public Transportation Association.
Transit ridership across the country has slowly increased since a drastic drop due to the pandemic and shelter-in-place orders around the country. But ridership has still fallen short of the pre-pandemic levels.
While CTA is serving fewer riders since the pandemic started, total operating expenses have increased post-pandemic. CTA’s total operating expenses were $1.95 billion in 2019 and have increased to $1.96 billion in 2020 to $2.1 billion in 2021 and $2.14 billion in 2022.
And taxpayers are picking up the tab. Fares have dropped significantly. In 2019, CTA collected $585.9 million in fares. In 2020, that dropped to $234.8 million and has slowly increased to $250 million in 2021 and $291.5 million in 2022.
CTA has received $2.2 billion in total federal relief funds to help cover the drop in fare revenues. The transit agency stated that money will be nearly exhausted in 2025. CTA said it is using federal money to offset its “budget gaps” through 2025.
CTA said the solution is more federal funding.
“The CTA and other transit agencies around the country continue to advocate for additional federal funding to avoid other undesirable options, which have historically included service adjustments or fare increases,” the agency stated in its 2022 financial statements.
In August, CTA hired Denise Barreto as its first ever Chief Equity and Engagement Officer.
Barreto’s base salary of $220,170 is on par with the other nine department chiefs who have the same base salary. That makes Barreto the fifth-highest paid employee in CTA. Dorval Carter, the president, is the highest paid at $376,065.
