CCCTU Statement Urging the Illinois General Assembly to Act on Transit Funding

*This statement was approved by the CCCTU House of Representatives on September 19, 2025

The Cook County College Teachers Union (CCCTU) calls on the Illinois General Assembly to enact comprehensive, long-term operating support for public transit this session. Our students, many of whom balance coursework, jobs, caregiving, and clinicals, depend on reliable, safe, and affordable CTA, Metra, and Pace service to access classes, libraries, tutoring, counseling, internships, and jobs across Chicago and the suburbs. Cuts, reduced frequency, or fare shocks will directly undermine student access, persistence, and completion.

Illinois operates the nation’s second-largest transit system through CTA, Metra, and Pace, moving hundreds of millions of riders each year across the city and six surrounding counties. CTA serves 127 bus routes and 8 rail lines (146 stations) with roughly 309 million annual rides; Metra operates 11 lines to 243 stations with about 35 million annual rides; and Pace runs 148 fixed routes plus ADA paratransit with about 17 million annual rides. These systems are essential for community college students and workers in both the city and the suburbs (Labor Alliance for Public Transportation).

Without state action, the region faces a transit “fiscal cliff” exceeding $750 million by 2026, driven by decades of underfunding, an unrealistic statutory 50% farebox-recovery mandate from 1983, and the wind-down of federal pandemic aid. If unaddressed, agencies will be forced into layoffs, route and line eliminations, station closures, and deferred repairs, disruptions that would hit students hardest. 

CCCTU supports the labor-backed “United We Move” framework led in the Senate by Sen. Ram Villivalam and in the House by Assistant Majority Leader Marcus C. Evans, Jr., which aims to deliver a safer, smarter, and more integrated transit network by strengthening operating support, improving coordination among CTA, Metra, Pace, and the RTA, and modernizing governance so agencies can deliver an improved rider experience.

CCCTU stands with the 15,000 union members who operate and maintain Illinois transit every day. Stabilizing and strengthening transit is a pro-student, pro-worker, and pro-region imperative. We urge swift passage of a funding and governance package in order to prioritize equity for community college students across Chicago and the suburbs, recognizing transit as core educational infrastructure that enables enrollment, retention, and completion for students who rely on public transportation.