Chicago Tribune photo illustration (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune / February 7, 2012)
The Chicago Tribune quotes Steve Schlickman, executive director of the UIC Urban Transportation Center, on two plans to alter the oversight of Metra, Pace and the CTA. Schlickman, former head of the Regional Transportation Authority, said the three operating systems should be combined into one agency.
The working group rejected two other proposals. One called for strengthening the RTA with more power and authority, such as a line-item veto over transit agency budgets, and another that would also eliminate the RTA but give the CTA, Metra and Pace more autonomy.
Steve Schlickman, former executive director of the RTA and now head of the Urban Transportation Center at the University of Illinois of Chicago, said eliminating the oversight agency “goes backward rather than forward.”
“The proposal to consolidate into one agency makes the most sense by making the system more accountable, coordinated, efficient and ensuring there is one agency voice in creating support for the system,” Schlickman said.
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