Last week, Illinois lawmakers wrapped up another budget season with late-night negotiations, rushed votes and major spending decisions made in the final hours before adjournment.
Chicago should take note.
Over the past year, I’ve argued for a better budget process, including a city charter, an independent budget office, greater transparency and more long-term planning before we find ourselves staring at another budget gap. Because a budget is ultimately a statement of priorities.
And for Chicago, one priority sits above all the others: public safety.
Everything else depends on getting this right. Businesses won’t invest if workers don’t feel safe commuting. Families won’t stay if they don’t feel safe in their neighborhoods. Economic development plans only work if people have confidence in the basics.
That’s why, before Chicago enters another budget season, we should begin discussing several public safety investments that deserve serious consideration.
First, pilot modern fare evasion gates on the CTA. Other transit systems are showing what’s possible. San Francisco’s BART projects millions in additional revenue and significant reductions in crime and disorder after installing taller gates. Washington Metro saw fare evasion drop dramatically after similar upgrades. Chicago shouldn’t commit to a systemwide rollout overnight, but piloting the technology at stations with the highest levels of fare evasion and disorder is a sensible, data-driven step.
Second, Chicago should revisit gunshot detection technology through the city’s current procurement process. The debate around ShotSpotter has become overly political. The real question is simple: Does the technology help first responders locate victims faster and save lives? If technology can improve response times and help save lives, it’s worth serious consideration.
Third, move up to 600 officers out of administrative roles and back into public-facing police work. A recent staffing analysis found hundreds of jobs currently performed by sworn officers that could instead be handled by civilian employees. Done correctly, civilianization can put more officers on patrol, reduce overtime pressures and save taxpayers money over time.
Finally, expand the Crisis Assistance Response & Engagement Program (CARE) to nights and weekends. Mental health crises don’t happen only during business hours. Expanding CARE would help ensure people get the right response at the right time while allowing police officers to focus on calls that require law enforcement.
Chicago has developed a habit of governing by crisis. We can do better. If public safety is our top priority, we should start budgeting for it now.
— Liam Stanton, small business owner and mayoral candidate, Chicago
Meaningful changes to CTA
As a Chicagoan without a car, I rely on the CTA every day, yet every time I take the “L,” it is a consistently unpleasant experience: cigarette smoke, bodily fluids, and people screaming and confronting commuters. While I’m aware that statistically, I am safer on the train than I am while driving, I’m not afraid of being set on fire while waiting in traffic on DuSable Lake Shore Drive. The same cannot be said for riders of the Blue Line.
So when Mayor Brandon Johnson brushed off as “an isolated incident” an attack on a woman in which she was set on fire by a repeat offender and left with severe burns, I realized that there is no plan from the mayor’s office to meaningfully improve the CTA. While certainly such an attack is rare, it is emblematic of the felt danger on the “L.” Why do we, as a world-class city, accept such deplorable conditions? Why do we accept feeling unsafe, unsanitary and uncared for on one of the country’s largest rapid transit systems? Why does city government fail to even address the existence of a problem?
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The Johnson administration has its head in the sand when it comes to the CTA. Something must be done in order to increase safety — both real and felt — and ensure the future of the “L.” Instead, Johnson is sinking nearly $6 billion into an extension of a broken and unsafe system and continuing to allow a symbol of our city’s excellence to become one of our incompetence.
— Andy Johnston, Chicago
CTA made some bad decisions
Sixty years ago, I took one bus and three “L” trains to travel to the University of Illinois Chicago. It took me 40 minutes for the trip. Today, that can’t happen. First, the CTA eliminated the conductor who monitored the cars. Next, it eliminated the A and B stops that kept the ride faster.
The CTA ruined the Purple Line in two ways. For a quarter extra, the train ran nonstop from Howard to the Merchandise Mart. That stopped when the agency added a transfer at Fullerton and Belmont. Then for the passengers regularly using the Purple Line, the CTA made stops after Belmont to accommodate Brown Line passengers. That made the ride slower and coming home at rush hour horrible. With Brown Line passengers boarding the Purple Line, by the time it reached the Merchandise Mart, the cars were filled, and I had to wait for 15 to minutes to get a train. Awful.
Then there is the danger with the carrying of guns and threats to seniors. I carry a cane and won’t use a train or bus. Then we have the passengers themselves who will hog two seats with briefcases and other crap and won’t move it when they see the car fill up. Then lastly, the cars are like a pig sty.
So the CTA needs to improve service, eliminate the danger, and convey to passengers that they should be kind and considerate to other travelers.
— Judy Arkes, Chicago
Improving CTA reliability
Regarding Kathryn Williams’ letter concerning the rush hour unreliability of the CTA’s No. 6 bus route (“A nightmare at rush hour,” June 8): The first leg of the triangle to restore balanced reliability to the entire CTA system would be restoring the CTA’s 24-hour customer hotline, which the CTA throttled into extinction back in the 1990s.
The hotline informed CTA management of conditions on the ground in real time and empowered its street supervisors to mitigate such conditions as late buses or bus bunching.
The second leg of the triangle would be to have three or four of the CTA board members be people who actually use the CTA, rather than a board of all political back-scratchers who are unaware of the CTA’s dynamics.
The third leg I leave to a more imaginative soul.
— Herbert H. Hardwick Jr., Chicago
Is bus bunching now worse?
I noticed that letters in Tuesday’s edition dealt with the issue of bus bunching. My letter on that problem was published last summer. Since then, it seems as though the problem has only worsened.
— Jeanne Martineau, Chicago
Help visually impaired riders
I am very grateful for the CTA. As a North Side rider, I have great service on trains and buses. CTA workers are courteous and helpful. The Ventra app works well. It’s not great that people “live” on the trains; however, that is not the fault of the CTA.
I would appreciate some changes to stations for visually impaired customers. As my sight dims, I am more challenged. The Polk Pink Line station is good. All steps are marked with a yellow stripe. It would help if the transition steps were marked or the landings marked. It would be helpful to have the Ventra app available in an audible form.
— M. Watson, Chicago
Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email [email protected].