Illinois Government Consultants Incorporated

A universal fare card for mass transit in the Chicago area is getting closer to reality.

Gov. Pat Quinn signed legislation Thursday that requires the Chicago Transit Authority, the Metra commuter rail and the Pace suburban bus system to implement a universal fare card by 2015.

Officials say a universal fare card would make it easier for commuters to change between the three transit systems.

They say it’s a way to increase ridership and improve tourism by making traveling between the city and suburbs seamless.

The bill also requires the transit agencies to provide web-based arrival information by July 1, 2012.

—————————

Source:  The State Journal Register - The Oldest Newspaper in Illinois

A bill is expected to be introduced to lawmakers in Springfield this week that would give the state’s executive inspector general the job of keeping an eye on Chicago-area mass transit agencies.

The Chicago Tribune reports that under the bill the state office would investigate corruption, fraud and waste at Metra, Pace, the Regional Transportation Authority and oversee the Chicago Transit Authority’s current inspector general.

The bill, which was written by state Sen. Susan Garrett, a Lake Forest Democrat, follows revelations that former Metra Executive Director Phil Pagano improperly took nearly a half million dollars in vacation pay after forging the signature of Metra’s chairwoman. Pagano committed suicide by stepping in front of Metra train last May.

Source:  The State Journal Register - The Oldest Newspaper in Illinois

Packed trains and some confusion among commuters were reported this morning on Metra’s Union Pacific North Line, where work began on an eight-year, $185 million project to rebuild 22 bridges and replace the Ravenswood station.

Metra is running a revised schedule because trains share a single track in the construction zone around the Ravenswood station.

The agency made some last-minute changes to its schedules after fielding complaints from riders at three meetings.

Metra added stops near New Trier High School and in Wilmette and backed away from a plan to move the busy Ravenswood station north of Lawrence Avenue from its current location south of the street.

Metra said moving the station would have been a matter of several hundred feet, but residents said the station was best suited to the industrial area where it currently sits. They feared an increase in noise and a decrease in property values.
—————-
Source: The Chicago Tribune

New Trier High School and the village of Wilmette persuaded Metra to add additional train stops during an eight-year construction project set to begin this month.

Metra expects to begin an eight-year, $185 million project to replace 22 aging bridges on its Union Pacific North line. During the project, north and southbound trains will share a single track through the construction zone.

Coupled with federal regulations concerning the minimum amount of time between trains that share a rail, the project will result in fewer trains, fewer stops and slightly longer travel times.

Metra’s initial attempt to produce a train schedule during the project was met with criticism from local riders. But it was amended after three recent public meetings and input from local municipal agencies.

The original train schedule eliminated key options for New Trier faculty and staff to get to and from the school, as well as for Wilmette employees to travel north at the end of the workday.

An amended schedule provides more choices.

“We’re very pleased that they did that,” said Linda Yonke, superintendent of New Trier High School District 203. “The schedule will still be a little different than it was. But the changes that they put in last week should help a great deal.”

Normally, three southbound Metra trains stop at the Indian Hill station — nearest to New Trier’s Winnetka campus — between 7:30 a.m. and 8:15 a.m., when classes begin. That was to be cut to one, at 7:46 a.m.

Metra heard New Trier’s complaints and added a second train, at 8:04 a.m., for students, as well as an additional earlier train, at 6:52 a.m., geared toward faculty, said Meg Reile, Metra spokeswoman.

The train is a main mode of transportation to the school for both staff and students, said Nicole Dizon, New Trier spokeswoman.

“A good number of faculty take the train and particularly students in Glencoe. But I don’t have a specific number,” Dizon said.

Classes begin Aug. 25, and the amended train schedule takes effect Sunday.
————–
Source: The Chicago Tribune

The CTA provided 2.5 million more free rides in the first half of the year than the same period last year, transit officials said Wednesday.

The increase in ridership by non-fare-paying customers far exceeded projections that about 1 million more free rides would be taken in all of 2010 on CTA.

Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich insisted on the free-ride program on CTA, Metra and Pace in exchange for his acceptance of a sales tax increase for Chicago-area mass transit in 2008.

The free rides, while welcomed by some senior citizens and other riders who receive the benefit, are costing the cash-strapped transit agencies tens of millions of dollars in revenue annually.

Some 37.5 million free rides were taken from January through June this year by senior citizens, disabled military veterans, low-income individuals covered by the state circuit-breaker program and active military personnel in uniform, said Karen Walker, CTA chief financial officer. That total is 2.5 million more free rides than the same period last year.

Some 6.7 million free rides were taken on CTA buses and trains in June–200,000 more free rides than in June 2009, Walker said.

Preliminary data suggest that free rides on rail are growing faster than on buses, she said.
————
Source: The Chicago Tribune

Illinois state Sen. Susan Garrett says a legislative committee plans to investigate Metra, the Chicago-area commuter rail service.

Garrett said Monday that the committee needs “to shed some light” on the rail service. The Illinois Senate committee on state government has a scheduled July 28 meeting.

Metra has hired an internal watchdog to investigate 33 allegations of possible fraud or misconduct.

A firm was hired after the disclosure that former Metra Executive Director Phil Pagano improperly took $475,000 in vacation pay after forging the signature of Metra’s chairwoman.

Pagano committed suicide by stepping in front of a Metra train May 7, just as Metra’s board was about to fire him.
————–
Source: The State Journal Register - The Oldest Newspaper in Illinois

CityMetra appointed a firm headed by former Chicago Police Supt. Terry Hillard to run a new inspector general’s office in the wake of the discovery that its former executive director took hundreds of thousands of dollars in unauthorized pay.

The Metra board approved the interim appointment of Hillard Heintze on Wednesday to investigate fraud and abuse at the agency after Metra determined that the late Phil Pagano took $475,000 in unauthorized payments. The new office will take tips from any source, including anonymous sources, Metra said. The agency set up a hotline for complaints, (877) 482-4962; complaints can also be sent to metraig@hillard heintze.com.

Hillard, whose firm is also headed by former U.S. Secret Service Chicago Special-Agent-in-Charge Arnette Heintze, will also help find a permanent inspector general.

Also Wednesday, the RTA — which last week declined to discuss the financial scandal at Metra, which it oversees — said it launched an investigation immediately when Metra improprieties surfaced late last month.

The RTA said it is conducting an in-depth audit of executive compensation policies at Metra over the last five years, to be followed by similar reviews of the CTA, RTA and Pace.

“We need our 2 million riders and all stakeholders to know that our agency has never wavered from exercising our audit authority per the RTA Act, and we have taken immediate and aggressive actions in response to financial improprieties at Metra,” said RTA executive director Stephen Schlickman.

The RTA said that when allegations first became public that Pagano had received an unauthorized bonus of $56,000, the RTA had already begun an annual audit of the RTA-Metra-Pace pension plan for 2009.

The RTA auditors uncovered “irregularities” with respect to Metra, which were reported to Metra acting executive director William Tupper.

That means the irregularities weren’t reported until after April 27, when Pagano stepped down from his position so Metra could complete its own investigation.

Pagano killed himself May 7.
—————-
Source: The Chicago Sun-Times