The union representing Chicago Transit Authority "L" operators is accusing the agency of employing scare tactics as the two sides negotiate budget cutbacks.
The CTA has issued issued federally mandated notices informing about 2,000 unionized employees that they will be laid off on Feb. 7, says Robert Kelly, president Amalgamated Transit Union Local 308.
But the CTA says it plans to lay off only 1,067 as it cuts services to close a budget gap. Read more...
Chicago Transit Authority President Rich Rodriguez is finishing up his week in Washington, D.C.
Rodriguez has been trumpeting the CTA’s need for more capital improvement dollars. The agency's 2010 budget has $6.8 billion in projects that need funding. A massive portion of the agency’s capital money comes from federal sources.
CTA spokeswoman Katelyn Thrall says Rodriguez will be “meeting with some Illinois lawmakers and/or staff while he is there in order to keep CTA needs on their radar.” Read more...
The Chicago Transit Authority is taking aim at its next major rehabilitation project, and it’s a big one: the North Side’s Red and Purple “L” lines.
But while plans to reconstruct the lines’ bridges, tracks, stations are taking shape, the money isn't — yet.
The 90-year-old lines are some of the most frequently-traveled tracks in the entire "L" system. The CTA is hoping to do a major overhaul similar to projects that rebuilt the vast majority of the infrastructure on the Brown, Pink and Green lines. Read more...
