Representatives from Metra, the CTA and the newly formed Northern Illinois Transit Agency, or NITA, shrugged off an early light rain Saturday to spend six hours talking with the public at the Oak Park Farmers Market.
Wednesday Journal observed a general public clearly interested both in hearing what public transit officials are planning, and in expressing their own views on the transit developments they want to see in the Chicago area.
The Oct. 31 event was one in an ongoing two month outreach effort by NITA and the three public transit agencies it is tasked by the Illinois State Legislature to oversee Metra, CTA and Pace.
“NITA is responsible for regional planning now,” said Michael Gillis, Metra’s communications director. “So this final plan will be used by NITA for their planning efforts going forward.”
Gillis said there remains a lot of work to do, but the picture is becoming clearer.
“We’re discussing our system-wide network plan (SNP), a plan we’ve been working on for about two years,” Gillis said. “We’re looking for feedback on that plan,” Gillis said. “Once we get the feedback, we’ll come up with a final plan.”
A NITA representative, who said he was there to answer questions but not authorized to speak to the media, did say that “Our approach is the one ticket, one timetable, one network sort of thing,” in order to make travel throughout the region as convenient as possible.
Gillis said the timing was good. “We finished (SNP) right as NITA took over the region. So now they have a road map to follow to help Metra increase the frequency and the connectivity of the system. And that was one of the main goals of the NITA legislation.”
“It’s a very exciting time for public transportation in the Chicago area,” Gillis said. “It’s clear there’s political will to improve transportation in the Chicago region. And money behind it.”
One woman, who asked to be called J. Walsh, underscored Gillis’s focus on expanding Metra’s schedule throughout the day.
“I would benefit from more trains in the middle of the day,” she said. On weekends and some Wednesdays, she said, she goes to the opera.
“They’re at 2 o’clock,” she said of the downtown opera and theater matinees, so current Metra schedules are decidedly inconvenient.
“I would arrive two hours early, which is way too early. Or, I would be late, and then I can’t be seated.”
“So, I’ve been taking the el downtown,” she said. “Which is OK,” she added, not very convincingly, noting that she considers it an alternative, not her first choice.
She takes Metra back after the theater.
People seeking answers on O’Hare Flyer details
Three people Wednesday Journal spoke with — all Oak Park residents — said they wanted to hear from O’Hare Flyer officials regarding details of the proposal.
On several occasions Gillis could be overheard telling questioners, “I’m not here to talk about that,” in response to inquiries about the O’Hare Flyer.
“We don’t have a position on the O’Hare Flyer,” Gillis said. “We’re not here to talk about that. Our network plan was not put out as an alternative to that.”
“We’re really looking at a different market than the O’Hare Flyer is,” Gillis said. “We’re looking at serving people along the Milwaukee West Line and North Central Service Line, providing them access to O’Hare.”
Asked about the improvements in connectivity needed on the line to O’Hare Gillis replied, “We’re proposing to do that on all our lines. The service that runs to O’Hare is one of them. We’ve identified the O’Hare market as one that has potential to tap into.”
One man with an engineering background came hoping to find someone from the O’Hare Flyer group that is looking to build a 20-mile-long rapid rail line that would go through River Forest and require multiple “flyovers” or bridges.
“I was hoping to meet the Flyer people,” he said, asking that his name not be used. He had a detailed list of questions regarding numerous technical issues with the Flyer proposal.
With increased train frequency and improvements to the connection between the O’Hare Transfer Station near Rosemont and the airport people mover, folks in Oak Park, River Forest and other close in western suburbs will be able to rely on Metra stations at half a dozen stations in order to travel to the airport.
NITA draft budget released
A quick review of the preliminary NITA budget released Monday shows a 16% increase in overall spending from 2026, including additional staff, as it works to improve performance benchmarks. Several public hearings are scheduled on the NITA budget before its board votes on final approval.
Metra’s budget will increase by roughly $60 million to $1.23 billion. The biggest increase is to NITA’s budget, at $401 million, more than eight times the $48.8 million budgeted for its predecessor Regional Transportation Authority.
Metra will be purchasing new rail cars, performing track work and improving several suburban and downtown stations. A portion of the additional NITA funding will be directed to efforts to reduce crime on the CTA.
