CHICAGO, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- Officials at the cash-strapped Chicago Transit Authority are set to slash bus service 20 percent in early January because the state failed to provide funding.
The so-called "gridlock budget" would eliminate 1,250 jobs, chop 30 bus routes and cut back commuter rail service after 10 p.m.
CTA Chairman Carole Brown is holding out hope the state Legislature will come up with funding in the spring and says the cuts could be delayed if lawmakers signal they will make financial help for public transit a priority.
"Nobody wants to see service cuts," CTA President Frank Kruesi told the Chicago Sun-Times. "None of us wants to be superintendent over an agency that's getting slashed."
Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan created a special panel to study the transit agency's budget problems before the General Assembly ended a six-day fall veto session.
