The cost of riding a Chicago Transit Authority bus or train will increase next year, regardless of what happens in Springfield this month as lawmakers seek to address a massive budget gap facing Chicago-area transit agencies.
Fares will increase 25 cents for using a train or bus starting Feb. 1, according to CTA’s 2026 budget recommendations released Monday. A $2.25 bus ride will cost $2.50. Train rides will increase from $2.50 to $2.75.
That’s roughly in line with the 10% fare increases that acting CTA commissioner Nora Leerhsen said to expect while laying out preliminary budget information this month before the Regional Transportation Authority. Metra and Pace say they will also implement similar fare increases. Metra last week said it would raise fares by 13% to 15%.
The CTA is also proposing to raise the cost of a one-day pass by $1, from $5 to $6; seven-day passes will rise by $5, from $20 to $25; and 30-day passes will rise by $10, from $75 to $85. The three-day pass would be eliminated “to streamline fare offerings,” according to the budget proposal. If approved by the CTA board, it would be the first fare increase since 2018.
Fares will increase no matter what happens in Springfield to address “inflationary cost growth,” according to a CTA webpage explaining the proposed budget.
The CTA’s proposal contains three different budgets: a baseline budget that assumes lawmakers fill the budget gap next year, a growth budget if lawmakers increase Chicago-area transit funding by an additional $1.5 billion per year and a reduced budget that includes no additional state funding.
The CTA and sister agencies have been warning for years of severe potential bus and rail cuts if the state does not raise funding for transit agencies, which are about to run out of federal pandemic grants and have not seen ridership return to pre-pandemic levels.
Earlier this month, the transit agencies said they reduced their expected 2026 budget shortfall from more than $770 million to around $200 million, thanks to administrative savings and revenue from a new tax on online sales.
Leerhsen said the delayed budget shortfall pushes potential CTA service cuts to the last half of 2026. Metra and Pace may not see cuts until early in 2027. But still, Leerhsen laid out a dire picture if state funding is not raised.
The CTA would freeze hiring in the first quarter of 2026, she said then. Then two rounds of cuts, beginning next summer, would lead to cutting 1,800 workers and eliminating 25% of bus and rail service. Up to 39 bus routes and an entire L line could be eliminated, Leerhsen said.
The agency’s funding outlook has been complicated further by the Trump administration’s announcement this month that it was withholding $2.1 billion in funding for CTA projects, including the Red Line extension, while the government investigates the CTA to “ensure funding is not flowing via race-based contracting.”