With the Chicago Transit Authority and state officials reeling to plug a $300 million budget hole this week, there have been some questions raised about the systemic funding challenges facing the region's transit agencies.  We've proposed some solutions in the past, as have other transit wonks. But one option that's too often overlooked is the need to rebalance the state's surface transit funding formula.

There are several reasons why transit projects don't draw the same interest as road projects, but money is first among them. Last year, the transportation industry spent $1.12 million lobbying state lawmakers, according to a new study by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG). Construction interests dished out $2.43 million. Their outsized influence, argues the study's authors, adversely effects how projects are prioritized:

“In our current campaign system elected officials must raise huge sums from major donors to win reelection,” said U.S. PIRG Democracy Advocate Lisa Gilbert, one of the authors of the report.

“In part because of this, we believe that transportation spending is skewed toward road-widening and new highway projects favored by developers, road builders and the other interests who make those contributions,” she added.

PIRG advocates for two federal fixes, both of which could (and should) be implemented concurrently at the state level. The first is the creation of a voluntary system of public financing for elections, which Sen. Dick Durbin has introduced in Washington. While Illinois is a long way away from experimenting on a broad scale with this approach, the campaign finance bill that was sent to Gov. Pat Quinn two weeks ago does establish a bipartisan task force to examine the feasibility of creating a voluntary public campaign finance system for all state offices. 

PIRG also suggests that federal transportation money be spent "only on projects that produce real results over the long haul," including reducing oil use, curbing carbon emissions, easing congestion, and improving safety. Last year, transit reformers in the House wrote a bill (HB 2359) that would have done just that. By establishing a new advisory committee to the Illinois Department of Transportation, spending decisions would be prioritized based on performance measures and criteria for project evaluation under the measure. Like a lot of other promising ideas in Springfield, it got buried in the House Rules Committee. It now faces a shaky future, given that the primary sponsor, Rep. Kathy Ryg (D-Vernon Hills), and a slew of co-sponsors -- Rep. Julie Hamos (D-Wilmettte), Rep. John Fritchey (D-Chicago), Rep. David Miller (D-Lynwood), and Rep. Arthur Turner (D-Chicago) -- are all vacating their seats in the Assembly. It would be wise for someone to pick up the fight next session.

Image used under a Creative Commons license by Flickr user rebecca anne.