1974 origin RTA was created after a referendum in 1974. In 1973, CTA had instituted its first major service cuts, and several suburban bus companies, including
Evanston Bus Company and
Glenview Bus Company had ceased operations, forcing Evanston to make arrangements with CTA and
Wilmette to start a municipal service. The
Rock Island and
Milwaukee Road were already facing financial distresses, which would lead to their eventual bankruptcies, and the
Illinois Central was petitioning the
Interstate Commerce Commission to increase commuter fares, on the basis that the cost of operating its
commuter train system was a burden on
interstate commerce. While several suburbs had organized Mass Transit Districts to purchase equipment for the carriers with federal financial assistance, the Rock Island was still operating old equipment that it could not replace. In an attempt to deal with these problems in the six-county area, the RTA was established, with some taxing powers, to provide financial support through grants to the CTA and suburban mass transit districts, and purchase of service agreements with the private bus and rail operators.
1983 reorganization In 1983, after a financial crisis, and the RTA taking over several private bus companies and the Rock Island and Milwaukee Road lines, the RTA Act was amended to create the Suburban Bus Division, now known as Pace, and the Commuter Rail Division, now known as
Metra. RTA's role then changed, so that it is now responsible for reviewing the operating and capital plans and expenditures of the Service Boards, developing an annual
budget and program as well as a five-year plan, and distributing
sales tax receipts to the Service Boards, in accordance with a statutory formula. However, RTA no longer provides service directly, as the Service Boards have the authority to determine the level, nature, and kind of
public transportation to be provided, and to establish fares. Originally, RTA entered into purchase of service agreements with carriers, but the 1983 amendment gives the Service Boards the power to enter into those agreements with transportation agencies. The 1983 legislation also imposed the requirements that the level of fares must be sufficient, in the aggregate, to equal 50 percent of the cost of providing transportation, and that the RTA Board inform each Service Board, as part of the budget process, of its required recovery ratio for the next fiscal year.
2004–2007 funding debate and 2008 legislation Background In 2004, the CTA, projecting a $55 million funding shortfall in its 2005 budget, called for a "long term funding solution," involving a change to the sales tax distribution formula in the RTA Act. In response, the
Illinois General Assembly appropriated $54 million to cover the cost of CTA's paratransit service for 2005. An amendment to the RTA Act made the RTA responsible for the funding, financial review and oversight of all
ADA paratransit services, effective July 1, 2005, and transferred responsibility for operating or providing for the operation of paratransit service to Pace starting July 1, 2006, thereby relieving the CTA of that responsibility. The General Assembly also directed the Illinois Auditor General to audit the RTA and the Service Boards, as part of its review of the funding issue. The Auditor General's preliminary report, while agreeing that public funding was insufficient to support the level of transit services, said that the legislature must address other issues, including underfunded pensions, high salaries, absenteeism, and the lack of strong, centralized planning, resulting in several of the service boards competing for customers in the same areas, the Auditor General calling for "an end to the transit agencies fighting each other for customers, routes and federal funding for pet projects that may not fit into an overall regional transit plan." The RTA approved 2007 Service Board budgets premised on the assumption that "a new funding source would be identified in 2007 to meet the funding requirements of [the] budget." Nonetheless, the CTA budget recognized, "Without this new funding source, CTA will be forced to cut service." With no legislative action by August, 2007, CTA and Pace announced proposals for service cuts, popularly known as "Doomsday Plans," to be implemented September 16. The September plans were postponed when the Governor proposed advancing 2008 state subsidies. A new Doomsday date was set for November 4, but that was avoided when the Governor engineered a transfer of capital funds. Again, the legislature having failed to pass a transit bill, the three service boards proposed 2008 budgets that assumed no new funding and postulated service cuts by CTA and Pace, and the deferral of capital projects by Metra, as well as fare increases by all three agencies. The barriers to 2007 passage of a bill were the requirement that a 3/5ths supermajority of the legislators was needed to pass a bill after May 31 to be immediately effective, the Governor had threatened to veto a bill that included a sales tax increase, and many legislators tied a transit bill to a capital plan and a casino bill to fund that capital plan. However, with a new Doomsday deadline of January 20, 2008 approaching, the Governor called on the legislature to pass some bill, and he would "improve it," presumably using the
amendatory veto. The Legislature passed HB656 on January 10, to which the Governor affixed an amendatory veto allowing senior citizens to ride all transit systems in the state for free. Although various media reports expressed concern that the legislation could not receive the votes to sustain it after it was returned with the amendment, the amendatory veto was accepted and the legislation passed on January 17, 2008. and the county boards may use that money for transportation or public safety purposes. • A new distribution of revenues is prescribed, essentially leaving the distribution of the sales taxes collected at the old rates as is (by references to "85% of 80% of the receipts from those taxes collected within the City of Chicago" and the like) and then, after certain funds described below are set aside, the remainder is allocated 48% to CTA, 39% to Metra and 13% to Pace. an ADA Paratransit Fund, and a Suburban Community Mobility Fund. • The Act calls for the implementation of an
Interstate 55 bus rapid transit project and allocates money for programs to enhance access to job markets for residents in south suburban Cook County. • Upon the vote of 9 Directors of the RTA, the Executive Director may intervene in a dispute among service boards or transportation agencies. • On the vote of 12 Directors, the RTA may take over an alternatives analysis and preliminary environmental assessment of a project where multiple Service Boards or transportation agencies are potential service providers. • The RTA must establish Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Contracting and Equal Employment Opportunity Programs. • The RTA and Metra boards were reapportioned, effective April 1, 2008, with the most significant changes being that the chair of the CTA may no longer be on the RTA board, and the President of the Cook County Board was given an appointment to the RTA and Metra boards, respectively. In addition, the legislation amended various other laws to deal with underfunding of the CTA Retirement Plan, and authorized the Chicago City Council to raise the real estate transfer tax for the sole benefit of the CTA, which it did.
Proposed reforms 2010s Since the 2008 changes, there have been several proposals to reform the region's transit agencies more dramatically. In the wake of
Metra's 2013 patronage scandal, state senators
Daniel Biss and
Terry Link introduced a bill to merge the RTA with the
Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP). At the same time, Governor
Pat Quinn convened the Northeastern Illinois Public Transit Task Force to study potential reforms - this group concluded that Metra, the CTA, and Pace should be consolidated into one agency. Chicago mayor
Rahm Emanuel opposed consolidation as reducing accountability to voters. In 2014, a report from the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development also recommended combining Metra, the CTA, and Pace to improve coordination.
2020s In an effort to avert a "fiscal cliff" attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, in September 2023, CMAP raised the possibility of raising taxes as well as merging CTA, Metra, and Pace into one larger agency. On April 29, 2024, state Senator
Ram Villivalam introduced the Metropolitan Mobility Authority Act, which called for replacing the RTA and three constituent transit agencies with a larger agency named the
Metropolitan Mobility Authority (
MMA). The merger was touted for its potential to streamline transit services throughout the metropolitan area and address the budget shortfall. However, suburban leaders raised concerns about their representations being reduced under the MMA. Additionally, transit leaders of the CTA, Metra, and Pace argued that the fiscal cliff should be addressed by providing more funding, rather than consolidating agencies. On May 28, 2025, the state legislators proposed restructuring the RTA as the
Northern Illinois Transit Authority (
NITA), which planned to unify fares among subordinate transit agencies and have greater oversight on services and projects. The Northern Illinois Transit Authority Act was passed by the legislature on October 31, 2025, and signed by Governor
JB Pritzker on December 16. The law will be effective on June 1, 2026. ==RTA system ridership==