Harsh Winter Takes A Toll On CTA, Pace Budgets
The polar vortex has blown a hole in the CTA and Pace budgets, but neither agency is pushing the panic button yet.
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The polar vortex has blown a hole in the CTA and Pace budgets, but neither agency is pushing the panic button yet.
When Ventra was first unveiled in September, there were massive teething problems.
Getting around the city can be difficult due to the traffic, winding roads and constant construction. Let go of the stress and take advantage of the many different options for public transportation in Chicago.
The incident happened about 3:45 p.m. outside Loyola University Medical Center when a red Nissan Sentra traveling southbound on 1st Avenue veered into the northbound lane and struck a Pace bus carrying five passengers.
An Oak Forest man was killed and three other people were hurt in a head-on crash involving a Pace bus Wednesday morning in southwest suburban Romeoville.
CTA is a lot happier now with the Ventra farecard than it was even a month ago. But CTA President Forrest Claypool said Wednesday that the final phase-out of old fare cards is at least two months off.
Illinois State Police said the bus was driving on the left shoulder of the northbound lanes of the Stevenson, when it crashed with two other vehicles near Harlem Avenue.
Amalgamated Transit Union Division 308 President Robert Kelly said the employees he represents are getting verbal abuse daily.
The agreement kept intact the historic division of the supposedly discretionary funds: 98 percent to the CTA, 2 percent to Pace, while essentially forgiving a $56 million loan to the CTA that CTA has characterized as a grant and offering Metra $2 million for capital projects.
Pace is the first of the area's transit systems to unveil a proposed 2014 budget, and it holds the line on most fares while promising additional service.
Pace employees will be staged at 14 transit stations in the city during the next two weeks in an effort to inform customers about fare policy changes.
On Monday, Ventra cards will begin replacing the familiar plastic and paper fare cards with magnetic stripes, which CTA and Pace customers have been using for years.
Gov. Pat Quinn has appointed former U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald and former CTA Board chair Carole Brown to a panel tasked with recommending reforms for the Chicago area's public transit agencies, in the wake of patronage allegations at Metra.
A government watchdog group said Wednesday that the resignations of two Regional Transportation Authority board members this week pointed to larger, troubling issues for the Chicago area's transit agencies.
Pace is looking to expand its popular Call-n-Ride program.
The Ventra card allows riders to use a single card for CTA and Pace transportation, according to a CTA release.
Democratic candidate for governor Bill Daley said the Regional Transportation Authority – which oversees the finances of CTA, Pace and Metra – has reached the end of the line, and should be eliminated.
CTA Ventra payment card holders who use the card's controversial debit features won't be charged for talking to public transit customer service operators or using the cards for cash ATM withdrawals under new fee rollbacks revealed Thursday.
More shoulder-riding Pace buses begin to roam I-55 beginning Monday. WBBM's Bob Roberts says an even bigger expansion may be in the works.
One of the hassles of riding the bus is the dash to get to the corner, several blocks away, to catch it.
The crash involved a van or minibus that crashed into a tree.
A Pace bus traveling south swerved to avoid a pedestrian and crashed into a light pole in the 4600 block of South Halsted Street.
Money Network, one of the company's behind the new Ventra transit and debit card, currently has an F rating with the Better Business Bureau. CBS 2's Dorothy Tucker reports.
A village snow plow crashed into a Pace bus, causing the vehicles to land in a yard of a home in north suburban Glenview Friday morning.
More Pace buses will be riding the shoulders of I-55 by next summer -- and could possibly be taking riders between the Loop and southwest suburbs middays, and on specials to White Sox and Bears games.
Due to the allegation, Father Pfleger will step aside from ministry and live away from the parish during the investigation, the archdiocese said.
Chicago clinched winning a home series for the 11th time in its last 12.
A look at the Chicago White Sox and Cubs' first-round selections.
Chicago police shared video of the suspect firing a gun towards the intersection of 51st Street and Cottage Grove Avenue, which resulted in the injury of a 6-year-old child.
A 6-foot-2 right-handed hitter, Cholowsky was a Golden Spikes finalist at UCLA and had a 1.088 OPS with 21 homers and 60 RBIs in his junior season. He was the Big Ten Player of the Year.
A landmark housing bill automatically became law overnight after President Trump declined to sign it.
Graham Platner had until 5 p.m. on Monday to formally suspend his campaign or he would remain on the ballot in November.
In the plan under discussion, the Secret Service and the White House would be able to open and close sections of the fencing, sources said.
Eight months ago, Hegseth told top military leaders there would be "no more beardos" and "fat troops."
President Trump said Friday he won't sign the law, but a U.S. official said he isn't expected to veto it either.
Chicago remained the most bed bug-treated city in the country, according to Orkin's latest annual rankings covering a full year of residential and commercial treatment data.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul this week warned residents cleaning up from last month's storms to be on the lookout for scams.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker on Thursday signed several new consumer protections into law, including a ban on junk fees.
CBS News Chicago has learned that Illinois home insurance premiums are not only higher than the nation's average, but going up faster too.
As an alternative to legalizing video gambling terminals citywide, Bally's offered to open slot machine lounges at O'Hare and Midway, saying the move would replace the $6.8 million the city budgeted from VGTs.
In a major turnaround in the opioid crisis, overdose deaths are falling across Chicago and Cook County.
The north Chicago suburb of Glenview became the latest Illinois municipality this week to confirm mosquitoes testing positive for the West Nile virus this year.
Environmental and community groups are suing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for failing to act on a petition challenging U.S. Steel Gary Works operating permit renewal.
In the four years since Roe v. Wade was overturned and Illinois became a destination for abortion care, Illinois providers and advocates have rebuilt the state's infrastructure to support the tens of thousands of people who travel to the state for abortion services every year.
June is National Aphasia Awareness Month, raising awareness of a disorder that affects a person's ability to speak, write, and understand both spoken and written language.
Illinois American Water and Aqua Illinois are both seeking rate increases that would raise monthly bills by as much as $28, while their parent companies seek regulatory approval to merge — a deal a consumer watchdog says would give one company control of nearly all regulated water customers in the state.
The Federal Trade Commission and attorneys general from several states secured a right-to-repair settlement Wednesday with agriculture equipment giant Deere & Co. — commonly known as John Deere — that requires the company to let farmers and independent shops fix their own equipment.
Chicago Soul Café opened Monday at 6248 S. St. Lawrence Ave.
The Chicago Bears this weekend said they are assessing land at Wolf Lake Terminals in Hammond, Indiana, for a possible new stadium.
As an alternative to legalizing video gambling terminals citywide, Bally's offered to open slot machine lounges at O'Hare and Midway, saying the move would replace the $6.8 million the city budgeted from VGTs.
The 46th Taste of Chicago is cashless for the first time, accepting only credit cards, with a drone and fireworks show scheduled for approximately 9:15 p.m. Friday near Buckingham Fountain.
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra's summer home in Highland Park reopened after a $70 million gut renovation that redesigned the stage to reduce sound levels harmful to musicians.
Bonnie Tyler, the Welsh pop star best known for singing the chart-topping power ballad "Total Eclipse of the Heart" in 1983, has died. She was 75.
The nominations for the 78th annual Primetime Emmy Awards were announced Wednesday morning in Los Angeles, with the final season of HBO Max's "Hacks" setting a new record for the most nominations in a single year for a comedy series.
Nikki Glaser, Michelle Wolf, Ali Siddiq and Bert Kreischer are among the comedians coming to the city to perform from Nov. 5 to Nov. 15.
Banksy is looking for a forever home and you can adopt him at PAWS Chicago.
Despite saying the ceasefire is over with Iran, President Trump said peace talks will continue.
Police are looking for a group they say are responsible for a crash-and-grab attempt in in North Lawndale.
A woman and a young girl were critically injured in a crash involving a motorcycle in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood on Friday night.
Meteorologist Mary Kay Kleist is tracking a sunny weekend.
A woman was killed and a young girl was critically injured in a crash involving a motorcycle in Englewood.
An Indiana State Police trooper was shot multiple times after a pursuit in Michigan City Friday morning, and the suspect was later found dead in a wooded area nearby, state police said.
A lengthy closure is expected on I-94 after a crash involving four vehicles in Michigan City, Indiana, on Saturday morning.
It's summer and that means there's plenty to do, especially if you want to get outside this weekend.
Due to the allegation, Father Pfleger will step aside from ministry and live away from the parish during the investigation, the archdiocese said.
The university released what it's called a strategy statement about the impact it's already seeing artificial intelligence make on higher education and the legal profession.
New Cook County State's Attorney Eileen O'Neill Burke is fighting innocence claims more often than her predecessor, Kim Foxx, and hiring outside counsel to help.
On Tuesday evening, CBS News Chicago reported on wild weeds taking over a property in the South Side's Washington Heights neighborhood, and neighbors who said they spent months trying to get help.
Kevin Jackson was wrongfully convicted of murder and spent 22 years in prison before he was freed. Now he has realized his dream by starting a landscaping business. But his quest to be declared innocent continues.
The weeds keep growing, and the complaints keep piling up, but neighbors on one street in the Washington Heights community on Chicago's South Side say nothing is changing.
Chicago clinched winning a home series for the 11th time in its last 12.
A look at the Chicago White Sox and Cubs' first-round selections.
A 6-foot-2 right-handed hitter, Cholowsky was a Golden Spikes finalist at UCLA and had a 1.088 OPS with 21 homers and 60 RBIs in his junior season. He was the Big Ten Player of the Year.
It was Chicago's ninth shutout loss of the season, tied with the Giants for the second-most in the majors. The Padres have 10.
Former White Sox Aaron Civale (5-7) took the loss for the Athletics after surrendering four runs on six hits in 2 1/3 innings.
The Chicago Transit Authority this week released new crime statistics indicating that violent crime is down on the transit system.
An 18-year-old man was facing charges Thursday after police said he fired a gun into a home in the south Chicago suburb of Oak Forest.
Thieves left empty-handed in an attempted crash-and-grab burglary in Chicago's Budlong Woods neighborhood early Thursday, police said.
A 16-year-old boy was charged this week in a mass shooting that left three people dead in Chicago's West Chatham community in 2024.
The men accused in a crime spree that involved an attack on a CBS News Chicago crew last week were back in court Wednesday morning.
