Come January, RMTD may have to eliminate some routes because the State of Illinois hasn't been paying its bills. My biggest problem with this situation? It seems that there was plenty of money to give the CTA a bailout, but not enough for the state to pay its existing obligations to downstate mass transit authorities. In fact, the state made the problem worse by mandating free rides for seniors and individuals with disabilities. I'm not saying that free rides are a bad idea, particularly if those people have no other means of conveyance. I'm saying that it is a huge drain on resources for downstate communities like Rockford, where mass transit is not as central to our way of life as it is in Chicago and the suburbs. The funding for those initiatives simply does not exist.
More after the jump.
I'm getting slightly off-topic. I don't use the buses. I have no reason to, and I find them to be inconvenient. They don't run when I'm most active, they don't run often enough, and I have a car anyway. I would ride the bus occasionally if it was more convenient. With that said, I feel that mass transit is important for the City of Rockford, and our surrounding communities. Some people cannot drive, either because they lack the ability or they can't afford a car and/or its attendant expenses (maintenance, insurance, fuel, et cetera). These people rely on our buses to get them where they need to be, be it work, school, or play. With the current recession, even more people are going to end up unable to afford their automobiles. They will be forced to use the buses. So what happens to them and to the people who already rely on the buses after January?
RMTD needs our help. I suggest a bake sale on the steps of the state Capitol. We can price the items so that we can make $4 million if we sell all the items.
Obviously, the bake sale idea is not going to raise money, but that's not the point. The point is to shame the state into paying its bills on time and to stop ignoring downstate Illinois. The state government needs to be reminded that downstate Illinois is home to half the residents of Illinois, and we need to be able to count on our state government, too. This isn't about Chicago vs. Downstate. This is about the economic health of the entire state of Illinois.