Office of the City Clerk - Record #: F2014-97

• Record #: F2014-97
• Type: Communication
• Status: Placed on File
• Intro date: 11/5/2014
• Final action: 11/5/2014
• Title: Metra Proposed Program and Budget Book for Year 2015
• Sponsors: Dept./Agency
• Topic: REPORTS - Annual

Date	Journal Page Number	Action By	Action	Result
11/5/2014	93520	City Council	Placed on File

www.metrarail.com
PROPOSED PROGRAM & BUDGET BOOK | 1



Take some time to study Metra - as I have done since I joined the board and became its chairman - and several things are readily apparent. The first is that Metra is an extremely complex system, and its interaction with freight railroads and Chicago's congested rail infrastructure is very challenging. But hand-in-hand with that understanding is the fact that, despite that complexity and despite those challenges, Metra and its employees do an excellent job providing reliable, safe and comfortable service. We set high standards for ourselves, and for the most part we meet those standards. Our riders expect that, and they - and we - are disappointed when our service is not up to par.
The second is that Metra's capital budget is in dire straits. To understand why, it's important to know how Metra is funded. Metra, like the CTA and Pace and most other government entities, has two budgets. One is for operating expenses - the day-to­day costs of running the railroad. The other is for capital needs - improvements to and replacements of our infrastructure and rolling stock like cars and locomotives. When you pay your fare every day or every month, that money goes almost exclusively to our operating budget. All three public transit agencies in the RTA region are required, as a whole, to cover half their operating costs through system-generated revenue (mostly fares), with most of the rest coming from a regional transportation sales tax. At Metra, slightly more than half of our operating costs are paid by fares.
Our capital budget is funded from different sources - primarily federal grants and state bond programs. We set aside a small amount received from fares for capital needs - about $10 million for next year - but for the most part fares cover operations.
Even though our operating expenses increase every year, like most everything, in most years Metra has not raised fares to pay for these ...