Northern Illinois Transit Authority prepares to release first regional transit budget

Northern Illinois Transit Authority is getting ready to release something that Chicago-area public transit has never had: a single budget for NITA and the three transit agencies it supervises, CTA, Metra and Pace. The three agencies used to develop their own budgets in October/November, with Regional Transportation Authority signing off on them in December. They are still developing their own budgets, and what they submit will be part of the larger document. That budget proposal is expected to be released on the first week of November, with a public hearing scheduled for Nov. 12. Like many other suburbs near Chicago, Evanston is served by all three agencies that have collaborated on occasion but largely focused on their own priorities. One of the goals of the transit reform approved last October was to create a more regional, more integrated transit network that s more seamless to riders. Under the budgeting model that was in place between 1984 and 2025, RTA collected sales t