The Regional Transportation Authority on Tuesday said it is no longer requiring the CTA, Metra and Pace to implement 10% fare increases next year, following the passage last week of a historic transit funding package in the General Assembly.
The RTA, which must approve each of the agencies’ budgets by the end of the year, had insisted they each include the fare hike — even if state lawmakers approved a $1.5 billion spending package.
But lawmakers did just that, passing a bill in the wee hours of Halloween at the end of the fall veto session. Gov. JB Pritzker says he plans to sign it.
The transit bill prohibits fare hikes for the first year after the expected law goes into effect on June 1.
That caveat meant the RTA’s planned Feb. 1 fare increases could still go live, which created some confusion about whether the hikes would be implemented until the RTA’s statement Tuesday.
For now, the RTA is walking back its request for a fare hike, following criticism from lawmakers instrumental to the bill’s passage.
“For 2026, transit riders and frontline employees can expect no service cuts, no fare increases pending RTA Board action this Thursday, and a renewed emphasis on operational improvements to service quality and experience,” RTA Director of Communications Tina Fassett Smith said in a statement.
In October, the CTA said the RTA required the fare hike, regardless of new funding, to address “inflationary cost growth.” That planned fare hike helped the agencies push back potential service cuts to the last half of 2026.
Earlier Tuesday, state lawmakers acknowledged the bill does not prohibit a fare increase before June 1. They also urged the transit agencies to leave fares alone until, as the bill calls for, the RTA is replaced by the Northern Illinois Transit Authority, or NITA.
“I believe it’s irresponsible to look for fare increases at this particular moment,” state Sen. Ram Villivalam, D-Chicago, told reporters at a news conference.
State Rep. Eva-Dina Delgado, D-Chicago, said any future fare increase should be left to the soon-to-be installed Northern Illinois Transit Authority, which will have 20 board members appointed by the governor and Chicago’s mayor. It will have the ability to set fares for the CTA, Metra and Pace.
“I think it’s only fair to give them [NITA] at least a year to figure out exactly what’s happening region-wide and then make a determination for all of the riders across all three systems,” Delgado said.
The CTA had been preparing to implement a 25-cent fare increases on trains and buses, while Metra and Pace had plans to increase fares by 10% to 15%.
The RTA is planning to hold a special board meeting Thursday morning to address the transit bill.