New transit law takes effect as CTA, Metra, Pace enter new era

Goodbye, RTA. Hello, NITA.

The retirement of the Regional Transportation Authority began Monday as its board was granted new powers by the landmark Northern Illinois Transit Authority Act, which took effect.

The first act of the board — which will retain the RTA name until Sept. 1 when NITA board members are seated — was to buoy CTA, Metra and Pace with a quarter-percent sales tax increase.

The RTA sales tax hike, which takes effect Aug. 1, increases public transit funding by $200 million this year and more than $500 million next year. It applies to the six-county area around Chicago.

The sales tax increase was a provision of the NITA legislation, which was passed last fall in Springfield to bail out the CTA, Metra and Pace. The agencies were facing potentially deep cuts to bus and rail service as federal COVID-19 pandemic grants ran dry and ridership remained low.

In all, the NITA law should raise $1.5 billion a year for public transit in Illinois. Other funds will be redirected from the state's gas sales tax. A 45-cent Illinois Tollway hike will supplement road projects that lose funding from the redistributed gas tax.

The funds not only save the agencies from potential cuts but will enhance bus and rail service.

"With this funding, riders will immediately begin to see service improvements across the region," RTA Executive Director Leanne Redden said.

Among the changes:

• More frequent CTA buses. The agency is expanding service to more than two dozen routes with the new money.
• More Metra trains. The Rock Island District has added over a dozen weekly trains, and Metra will explore extending the Electric line farther south.
• More frequent Pace buses. More weekend service.

The law also changes the transit agencies' power dynamics. For decades, the RTA oversaw the budgets of CTA, Metra and Pace but had little power to coordinate service and projects between them.

Not anymore.

The NITA board will have the power to set fares, demand a universal ticket system and potentially create its own regional transit police force.

That won't be decided until after a safety task force, now entrusted to the Cook County sheriff's office, recommends how to alter how police patrol the system. Currently, only Metra has its own police department. The CTA is patrolled by Chicago police and Cook County sheriff's deputies.

Security has been a top concern of commuters.

A recent RTA survey found riders want the agencies to prioritize security. The CTA, facing pressure from President Donald Trump's administration, increased police presence on buses and trains in December and March. The CTA has touted positive early results, but violent attacks are still happening more often than in years past.

The NITA law notably strips Chicago's mayor of control of the CTA.

Before Monday, Mayor Brandon Johnson had the power to appoint the majority of the CTA's board.

Now, Johnson can only appoint two of its seven members. And he can no longer appoint a permanent head of the CTA without NITA board approval. Nora Leerhsen has been acting president of the CTA since former President Dorval Carter retired in early 2025.