<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><br id="lineBreakAtBeginningOfSignature"><div dir="ltr">Sent from my iPhone</div><div dir="ltr"><br>Begin forwarded message:<br><br></div><blockquote type="cite"><div dir="ltr"><b>From:</b> Fran Tobin <fxtthatsme@gmail.com><br><b>Date:</b> November 7, 2025 at 8:56:11\u202fAM CST<br><b>To:</b> Alliance-core@googlegroups.com<br><b>Subject:</b> <b>In the news: Our own Lyndsay Sullivan :)</b><br><br></div></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><div dir="ltr">\ufeff<div dir="ltr"><div>Alliance reached out to reporters that had previously written <b>about</b> disability transit without including voices of disability activists that had been involved in the effort. Sun-Times invited ADAPT coordinator and Alliance Co-Chair Lyndsay Sullivan to have a voice.<br></div><div><br></div><div><a href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/transportation/2025/11/06/rta-transit-money-rap-tap-cta-metra-pace">https://chicago.suntimes.com/transportation/2025/11/06/rta-transit-money-rap-tap-cta-metra-pace</a></div><div><br></div><div>Urged by Alliance member orgs Progress Center for Independent Living and ADAPT, the Alliance had also submitted comments to yesterday's RTA board meeting on restoring the services.</div><div><br></div><div>---------------------------------<br></div><div>
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<p>Sun-Times:</p><p>An Americans with Disabilities
Act ride-share program that was on the chopping block is set to be
revived with money from the state\u2019s historic transit funding bill passed
last week in Springfield, officials said Thursday in a special meeting
of the Regional Transportation Authority.</p><p>The bill awaiting Gov.
JB Pritzker\u2019s signature is set to pump an additional $1.5 billion a year
into the state\u2019s money-starved transit system. But the additional
revenue won\u2019t kick in until the last half of 2026, when new taxes are
expected to raise nearly $320 million for transit by year\u2019s end,
officials said.</p><p>That\u2019s not enough money in 2026 for the promised
\u201ctransformational\u201d change to public transit. Officials say to expect
that in 2027, when a full $1.2 billion in extra funding is expected for
the CTA, Metra and Pace. But there is enough cash expected next year to
shore up the system\u2019s workforce and expand an ADA ride-share program.</p>
<p>The RTA board on Thursday signed off on tweaked budget numbers for
2026 that allocate $56 million to Pace\u2019s Taxi Access Program and
Ride-share Access Program, known as TAP and RAP. The programs subsidize
taxi and ride-share trips for people with disabilities, in an effort to
reduce the demand for Pace\u2019s ADA paratransit service.</p><p>The new
money means RTA can raise its monthly cap on rides \u2014 which was cut to 30
in October \u2014 to 40 to 50 rides, said Maulik Vaishnav, RTA\u2019s senior
deputy executive director of planning and capital programming. Pace was
anticipating to cut those programs next April if the General Assembly
did not pass a funding bill.</p><p>Vaishnav said the RTA needs to take
separate action on those RAP and TAP funds later, and must work with
Pace to set a date to begin the new cap.</p><p><font size="4"><b>Lyndsay Sullivan,
co-coordinator of the disability rights group Chicago Adapt, welcomed
the proposed increase in monthly rides. But even a 50-ride monthly cap
is not high enough for some disabled people who commute daily or have
children, she said.</b></font></p><p><font size="4"><b>Sullivan
said her group was also grateful that the transit bill saved the system
from service cuts and line reductions. The RAP and TAP programs only
service areas within 3/4 of a mile of a mainline route.</b></font></p><p><font size="4"><b>\u201cIt would have been a double whammy for people with disabilities,\u201d Sullivan said.</b></font></p><p>The
revised budget estimates pump an additional $141 million into the CTA,
which was the first transit agency expected to run out of funds next
year when federal COVID-19 grants run dry. </p><p>Metra and Pace, which
were expecting layoffs and cuts in early 2027, will receive an
additional $27 million and $18 million next year, respectively. Vaishnav
said this money would remain as a projected line item for next year\u2019s
budget, and may require an additional budget amendments next year to
disperse the funds.</p><div class="gmail-RTEAdModule"><div class="gmail-HTLAds gmail-htlad-mobile_article_body_med_rec_dynamic gmail-tude-ads"><div id="gmail-mobile_article_body_med_rec_dynamic-2" class="gmail-htl-ad"></div></div></div><div class="gmail-RTEAdModule"><div class="gmail-HTLAds gmail-htlad-desktop_article_body gmail-tude-ads"><div id="gmail-desktop_article_body-1" class="gmail-htl-ad"></div></div></div><p>The
region\u2019s transit agencies are finalizing their budgets this month and
will present them to the RTA, which must approve them in December.</p><p>It
may take time for riders to see increased bus and train service,
Vaishnav said. Transit agencies will use the initial money to bolster
its workforce. But \u201cit takes a pretty long window to get to a point
where you can add service or bring on some of these investments that
riders will begin to see,\u201d he said.</p><p>The transit bill goes into
effect June 1, overhauling the region\u2019s transit and replacing the RTA
with a more powerful agency called the Northern Illinois Transit
Authority, or NITA. The RTA on Tuesday said it was <a class="gmail-Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/transportation/2025/11/04/cta-metra-pace-transit-fare" target="_blank">scrapping planned 10% fare increases</a> after pushback from lawmakers instrumental to passing the bill.</p><p>The
largest chunk of the new funding, $731 million a year, is from the
sales tax on motor fuel that will go to transit starting July 1, 2026.
The bill also allows the RTA to increase its sales tax in the Chicago
area by 0.25%. But the agency can\u2019t vote on that measure until June 1,
and it will go into effect 60 days later.</p></div>
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