Chicago Transit Authority riders have been sticking with public transportation despite February’s deep service cuts, the agency’s president said today.
Despite service cuts started on Feb. 7, ridership fell just 1.3 percent in February when compared to the same month in 2009, CTA President Richard Rodriguez told the board today.
The February cuts reduced total bus service by 18 percent, and rail service by half that amount. In all, CTA officials said the system provided 39.5 million rides during February of this year. Read more...
A group of the CTA’s smaller unions has reached a deal to save 38 employees’ jobs from budget cuts, but it won’t have any impact on the service cuts that took effect Sunday.
CTA President Richard Rodriguez announced the deal with the Craft Union Coalition at a press conference Monday, but neglected to elaborate on the terms of the agreement because it had not been approved by the unions’ membership yet.
The jobs saved represent a group of smaller unions doing non-operational work for the CTA, such as carpentry and general maintenance. Their layoffs have been rescinded until the coalition’s member unions can vote to approve the concessions. Read more...
Though negotiations continue to restore service perhaps as soon as late next week, riding almost any CTA bus or train today will take considerably longer than it did yesterday.
Nine express bus routes have been eliminated, 41 bus routes have had their beginning and/or end times cut, and 78 more buses will see less frequent service. All "L" lines except for the Yellow Line will see less frequent service. Read more...
A last-minute negotiation session between the CTA's top brass and its union chiefs won't stop the service cuts that will hit Chicago transit this Sunday, leaving many transit riders, literally, out in the cold.
But the meeting, brokered by Mayor Richard M. Daley, has restarted previously-dead negotiations that could yet restore the city's transit system after the cuts take place.
A deal could not be reached Friday evening, and won't be reached until at least next week, because Amalgamated Transit Union locals 241 and 308 must ask their members to approve any concessions. Read more...
With less than 48 hours until CTA service cuts are scheduled to take effect, Mayor Daley is stepping in to the contemptuous fray.
Daley will bring the heads of the CTA's two biggest unions, Amalgamated Transit Union locals 241 and 308, as well as officials from the CTA, to a last-minute negotiating session in City Hall at 4 p.m. today.
"I have asked leaders of the unions representing CTA employees and CTA officials to come to my office so that we can -- I hope -- reach an agreement to prevent bus and train service cuts from going into effect this Sunday," Daley said in a statement. Read more...
