METRA

Check you Outlook for this letter.

"Dear Colleagues,

If you have not heard by now, early this morning the Illinois Legislature passed a bill that will

channel $1.5 billion in new funding to the region, averting the fiscal cliff that was projected

to impact the CTA next year and Metra and Pace in 2027. This is a significant bill that lays

the foundation for transformational changes to the region’s public transportation system.

We look forward to working with lawmakers, our fellow transit agencies, and all

stakeholders to meet the promise of this legislation and create the world-class system that

our constituents and riders need and deserve.

While we are still reviewing the bill, the broad outline is similar to the bill passed by the

Illinois Senate in the spring. It will keep Metra intact as a separate entity but create a new

parent organization called the Northern Illinois Transportation Authority, or NITA, that will

have more powers than the Regional Transportation Authority it replaces. NITA will be

charged with setting service levels and coordinating service, setting fares and integrating

fares, creating a strategic plan and prioritizing capital spending, and developing or

participating in residential and commercial development near public transportation,

among other duties.

Lawmakers tossed around a variety of new ideas for increasing funding for public transit

but ultimately settled on familiar ones. Those include using $860 million in state tax

revenue on motor fuel sales and $200 million from the interest earned on the state’s road

fund, and increasing the region’s transportation sales by 0.25 percentage points to

generate an additional $400 million.

It is too early to say what impact this legislation may have, if any, on any rank-and-file Metra

employees. We do know we will be led by a new Board of Directors, beginning next Sept. 1.

The heads of the five collar county boards will appoint one person each to the Board; the

Cook County Board President will appoint three; the mayor of Chicago will appoint two;

and the governor will appoint one.

I know this process has been uncertain and unnerving, but I believe the passage of this bill

is an overwhelmingly positive development. The new funding creates the opportunity for

expanded service, facilitating our strategic plan’s vision to run more frequent trains

throughout the day. It will help us meet our riders’ current needs and it sets us up to meet

their future needs. We should all be excited by the possibilities.

Throughout this process, you have always demonstrated your commitment to serving our

riders with safe, reliable, comfortable service. Whatever else happens, I know you will

continue to do so. And for that, you will always have my thanks and admiration.

Sincerely,

Jim Derwinski"