I don’t think he or the Governor give a damn about the hardships that these doomsday cuts will cause the riders of the CTA who will likely have doubled commute times or will need to find alternate transportation all together.
Tribune article below:
CTA cuts, fare hikes ‘will hurt everyone’
By Jeff Long
Tribune staff reporter
5:44 PM CDT, September 9, 2007
Chicago Transit Authority officials warned commuters Sunday that dozens of bus routes will be eliminated, fares will be increased and 600 employees will lose their jobs next week because the state has failed to boost funding.
The route cancellations will affect about 100,000 riders beginning Sept. 16, CTA President Ron Huberman said during a news conference at the agency’s Kedzie Garage. With talks about more CTA funding apparently stalled in Springfield, he said, the cuts and increases are necessary, or the authority will not be able to make its payroll in December, which could force a systemwide shutdown.
“These cuts and fare increases will hurt everyone,” Huberman said.
“I understand that they are angry,” he said of riders who will have to find alternate routes and means of transportation, and of CTA workers who will lose jobs. “This has been a frustrating few months.”
The proposal rejected Tuesday by state lawmakers called for a quarter-cent sales tax increase in Cook County and a half-cent boost in the collar counties to shore up transportation needs.
In response, the CTA reiterated Sunday that it will cut 39 bus routes in the city and suburbs and boost fares by 25 cents to $1, depending on the time and mode of travel. Fares for seniors, students and people with disabilities will not increase.
Those cuts will only stave off budget problems this year. Additional cuts will be needed to balance the books in 2008, officials say.
“That budget will have to contemplate additional service cuts and additional fare increases,” CTA Board Chairwoman Carole Brown said.
Even if lawmakers approve funding after Sept. 16, it will likely be a week before all canceled bus routes are running again, Huberman said. He noted it will take between $2 million and $3 million to get laid-off drivers back on the road because of costs such as recertification and drug testing.
The authority has already cut costs by $32 million, including the elimination of 75 administrative jobs, according to Huberman.
And this year’s capital budget—to replace and do major repairs on a fleet of buses with an average age of 16 years and 600,000 miles—has been cut by $56 million, Huberman said.
“Riders are mad,” Brown said. “They’re mad at the whole process.”
jjlong@tribune.com
Published by cypheroftyr
Tanya DePass is the founder and Director of I Need Diverse Games, a not-for-profit organization based in Chicago, which is dedicated to better diversification of all aspects of gaming. I Need Diverse Games serves the community by supporting marginalized developers, attendance at the Game Developer Conference by participating in the GDC Scholarship program, helps assist attendance at other industry events, and is seeking partnership with organizations and initiatives. Tanya is a lifelong Chicagoan who loves everything about gaming, #INeedDiverseGames spawn point, and wants to make the industry better and more inclusive for everyone. She’s part of the Rivals of Waterdeep actual play stream on twitch.tv/rivalsofwaterdeep, a partnered Twitch variety broadcaster; and often speaks on issues of diversity, feminism, race, intersectionality & other topics online, at conventions and as a public speaker..
She’s also contributed to publications at Green Ronin, Paizo and Monte Cook Games and is the co-developer for the Fifth Season RPG based on N.K. Jemisin’s three time Hugo award winning Broken Earth trilogy. She’s the creator and Creative Director of Into the Mother Lands, a Twitch supported RPG and Actual Play stream, airing weekly on her channel, twitch.tv/cypheroftyr. Additionally, she is a Senior Annenberg labs Civic Media Fellow at USC. She’s also the creator and Creative Director of Into the Mother Lands, a new sci fi afro-futurist RPG developed with a team of all POC and Black creators; live streamed on her twitch channel, /cypheroftyr.
She’s named as one of The Game Awards Future Class 2020, a diverse group of builders, thinkers and dreamers whose voices elevate and diversify our artform. It recognizes individuals around the world who represent the bright, bold and inclusive future for video games. She was also named as one of Gamers of the Year 2020 by Kotaku along with three of her contemporaries. She was also invited to the Xbox MVP program in February 2021.
Her work to make the industry more inclusive has been highlighted in Game Changer, Directed by Tina Charles, WNBA star & olympian as well as filmmaker. The short documentary premiered at Tribeca 2021, as part of the Queen Collective; an initiative started by Queen Latifah, supported by Proctor & Gamble in an effort to get more Black women into film making. Game Changer was also featured as part of BETHer’s 2021 Juneteenth Programming on 19 June 2021.
Tanya is the programming & diversity coordinator for OrcaCon and GaymerX. She also serves on the Board of Directors for OrcaCon and was named the Chair for Take This in January 2023. She often speaks on issues of diversity, feminism, race, intersectionality & other topics at conventions. Her writing about games and games critique appears in Uncanny Magazine, Polygon, Wiscon Chronicles, Vice Gaming, Paste Games, Mic, and other publications. She’s the editor of Game Devs and Others: Tales from the Margins (2018, CRC Press) and contributed to The Advanced Game Narrative Toolbox. (2019, CRC Press)
Writer Bio for pubs: Tanya is the Founder and Director of I Need Diverse Games, a not-for-profit organization based in Chicago. She’s part of Rivals of Waterdeep, an actual play D&D show on twitch.tv/rivalsofwaterdeep; the programming coordinator for OrcaCon & GaymerX; and often speaks on issues of diversity, feminism, race, intersectionality & other topics at conventions. She’s on the Board of Take This as well as a Stream Ambassador, and was part of the inaugural cohort of The Game Awards Future Class. Her work to make the industry more inclusive has been highlighted in Game Changer, Directed by Tina Charles, WNBA star & olympian as well as filmmaker. The short documentary premiered at Tribeca 2021, as part of the Queen Collective; an initiative started by Queen Latifah, supported by Proctor & Gamble in an effort to get more Black women into film making. Game Changer was also featured as part of BETHer’s 2021 Juneteenth Programming on 19 June 2021.
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