You can comment on RTA's plan to shift a bigger share of COVID relief to CTA
Commuters board their train at the Elgin Metra station. Brian Hill | Staff Photographer
Updated 2/18/2021 8:18 PM A one-time exception is how Regional Transportation Authority leaders on Thursday characterized a plan to channel to the Chicago Transit Authority a portion of federal COVID-19 relief dollars that typically would go to Metra and Pace. The move that upends traditional funding allocations for the transit agencies is necessary to ensure "critical" services are delivered amid the pandemic crisis until more federal aid comes, officials said.
Congress approved its second COVID-19 package in December. The RTA plan would give the CTA $361 million, or 77.5%, Metra $83 million, or 17.9%, and Pace $22 million, or 4.6%, of a $486 million pot. The remainder would go to paratransit.