Illinois and Chicago-area politicians admitted final month they had been apprehensive about shedding federal transit funding from an incoming Trump administration when the officers locked down a grant for the Crimson Line extension.
That worry materialized this week as native officers attempt to make sense of a directive from President Donald Trump’s new U.S. Division of Transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, to prioritize funding for communities with greater delivery and marriage charges.
The order, issued in a federal transportation division memo, calls on the division to “give choice to communities with marriage and delivery charges greater than the nationwide common.” The order additionally requires “native compliance or cooperation with federal immigration enforcement,” however the legality of that aspect of the directive is questionable.
In an announcement, Duffy stated the “order aligns U.S. DOT operations with the president’s agenda to help financial growth and strengthen American households by specializing in actual, measurable advantages moderately than ideological concerns.”
The order might put Illinois practically final in line to obtain federal transit funding. Illinois’ fertility price ranks forty second in comparison with different states, based on Nationwide Heart of Well being Statistics numbers from 2022. The state’s marriage price is third-to-last nationally, based on the Facilities for Illness Management’s newest numbers.
It’s unclear what roadblocks the memo might trigger for the billions of federal cash funneled to Illinois yearly for transportation tasks. The U.S. DOT might goal practically $2 billion in grants earmarked for the Crimson Line extension, or the upcoming O’Hare Airport growth, or any variety of federally funded tasks within the state.
The Regional Transit Authority — which oversees the Chicago Transit Authority, Metra and Tempo — stated in an announcement it’s “paying shut consideration to how the administration’s actions could influence the regional transit system.” The company stated transit methods in giant cities comparable to Chicago are financial drivers with $4 returned on each greenback invested.
“At present, there aren’t any modifications to how the RTA is functioning,” the company wrote. “We stay dedicated to our mission to supervise the area’s transit system with transparency and accountability and plan for a future with satisfactory, accessible, and equitable public transportation for the six counties of northeast Illinois.”
A spokesman for Gov. JB Pritzker declined to remark till extra details about the directive is thought.
The CTA didn’t instantly remark. However the company had been making ready for backlash from the Trump administration when it secured in writing final month a authorized obligation from the federal authorities to pay a promised practically $2 billion for the Crimson Line extension to a hundred and thirtieth Road.
Requested Tuesday in regards to the attainable lack of federal transportation funding, Mayor Brandon Johnson stated he takes significantly each menace Trump makes.
Johnson stated he was “grateful” that, with assist from the Illinois delegation, the CTA managed to signal a $1.9 billion full funding settlement for the Crimson Line extension to a hundred and thirtieth Road earlier than Trump’s second inauguration.
However that doesn’t imply different Chicago transportation tasks is probably not in bother, or at the least susceptible.
“Look, this administration has demonstrated over and over that it’s dedicated to working outdoors of the parameters of the Structure,” Johnson stated. “Our company counsel goes to proceed to evaluate all the government orders and the potential implications or ramifications that it’s going to have on metropolis and state authorities. We’re not going to be intimidated or afraid as a result of you’ve got somebody who’s dedicated to working outdoors the bounds of the Structure.”
Each the Illinois and Chicago Departments of Transportation stated the memo was the one communication it has obtained concerning the brand new U.S. DOT coverage, and every added they might proceed in search of additional clarification.
The company memo was a head-scratcher, stated Joe Schwieterman, director of DePaul College’s Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Growth.
Inhabitants projection is a authentic consideration for federal transit funding, however fertility is a horrible measure of that, he stated. “Now we have a cell inhabitants that migrates between states, and that impacts the transit wants extra carefully than the dynamics of households.”
Schwieterman stated he can’t recall comparable partisan language in some other giant transit invoice or directive.
“Transportation investments have often been disconnected from social coverage, so that is very troubling in some ways,” Schwieterman stated. “The wind appears to blow in a distinct route day-after-day with the administration, so there could also be a sequel to the story. Interpretation could really feel a lot completely different in a number of weeks.”
Contributing: Fran Spielman
