That’s what this column in Crain’s Chicago Business says: Rust Belt cities should try embracing the suburbs Merging aging urban centers with surrounding municipalities shows promise as a path to revival. READ MORE > Been there, done that. The RTA was created ti … Continue reading
Category Archives: Chicago Transit Authority
When the Regional Transportation Authority referendum passed, there was a subsidy assumed. I remember that is was about $60 million a year. That number came from a formula. It was some small percentage of the sales tax collected in the … Continue reading
Municipal bond analyst Steve Wilson left the following message under the first part of my report of the McHenry County Board debate about the $10 increase for housing Federal prisoners: How much are we losing each day per prisoner? I … Continue reading
My understanding is that courts have decreed the highest form of speech is political speech. Now the Chicago Transit Authority has banned political speech from the ads on and in its buses. If one were challenging authority, might advertising placards … Continue reading
McHenry County Blog commenters are repeatedly posting that David McSweeney is not telling the truth in his mailings when he says the following: “Calling a 67% tax increase ‘fair.’ “Beaubien has said that the 67% income tax hike has led … Continue reading
Since 1974 when Downtown Chicago business interests financed the referendum to impose taxes on the suburbs to subsidize the CTA, promises have been made that there would be a “Universal Pass.” If something was promised 38 years ago and has … Continue reading
Didn’t the “Lone Ranger” television show start with something like that? When the extension of the CTA from Jefferson Park to O’Hare was being considered, it was right after the Regional Transportation Authority was shoved down the throats of suburbanites. … Continue reading
The unions decided to keep their benefits. That was more important than letting the commuters ride the CTA. And the personal grief of Democratic Party Lieutenant Governor Scott Lee Cohen’s son was more important that the doomsday for CTA strap … Continue reading
This is so simple I am amazed that I haven’t heard it anywhere else. Let’s put a couple of small slot machines on each CTA bus and rapid transit car. Let the CTA keep all the profits. Consider it a … Continue reading
The answer is simple, but the politics is difficult. It is pretty obvious that real estate value is greatly affected by closeness to mass transportation, especially that which runs on rails. It is equally obvious that downtown business interests have … Continue reading
In 1976 Quincy Republican Jeff Mays and Rockford Republican Lynn Martin ran for state representative. Illinois House Republicans had been devastated in the 1974 Watergate elections. They held onto just 76 out of 177 seats. 1976 was a comeback year. … Continue reading
The McHenry County Republican Central Committee has moved. Right into my father’s and my old office space in the tip of the “V” at the Crystal Lake Plaza. In the early 1970’s, Dad has his Barley and Malt Institute office … Continue reading
The McHenry County Republican Central Committee has moved. Right into my father’s and my old office space in the tip of the “V” at the Crystal Lake Plaza. In the early 1970’s, Dad has his Barley and Malt Institute office … Continue reading
From the folks that brought us the 1974 RTA gas and sales tax comes the idea of turning Randall Road into a tollway. It’s not bad enough that the Illinois Department of Transportation has built four-lane highways for less traffic … Continue reading
From the folks that brought us the 1974 RTA gas and sales tax comes the idea of turning Randall Road into a tollway. It’s not bad enough that the Illinois Department of Transportation has built four-lane highways for less traffic … Continue reading
Look at these headlines and tell me that anyone outside of Chicago won in the RTA sales tax bill passed yesterday. … Continue reading
Look at these headlines and tell me that anyone outside of Chicago won in the RTA sales tax bill passed yesterday. … Continue reading
That’s how legislators representing McHenry County voted on the bill to increase the RTA sales tax from one-quarter of one percent to three-quarters of one percent. The two state senators–Pam Althoff and Bill Peterson–and the three state representatives–Mark Beaubien, Jack … Continue reading
That’s how legislators representing McHenry County voted on the bill to increase the RTA sales tax from one-quarter of one percent to three-quarters of one percent. The two state senators–Pam Althoff and Bill Peterson–and the three state representatives–Mark Beaubien, Jack … Continue reading