Despite the proliferation of federal-level support for public transit system Amtrak, one state looks to pull back on its investment. Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner’s proposed state budget would cut 40% of the state’s funding for Amtrak services. This measure has been characterized as one of several measures designed to rectify the state’s budget deficet.
The cuts would, in simple dollar terms, reduce funding from $40 million to $26 million.
Critics of the plan, who include Joliet Mayor-elect Bob O’Dekirk, have of late expressed concerns that such cuts will have widespread negative impacts on statewide and interstate mobility, citing the fact that Amtrak ridership is growing. Moreover, the cuts will likely hamper Joliet’s efforts to build a multimodal transportation center in the city’s downtown area.
Roads & Bridges has reported in the downstate implications of these cuts previously; now it looks as through the proposed measures will take their toll on more urban concerns as well. A spokesman for Amtrak stated recently that the cuts will almost certainly cost jobs and cause service cuts and reductions.
The downtown transportation center is one of the biggest and most expensive capital projects underway in Joliet, with a price tag of $46 million. The hope behind the project is that high-speed rail will bolster the city’s businesses and ancillary downtown development, as well as grow jobs in the area. “With the idea of a new station, [we hope to see] new restaurants and businesses and things like that,” O'Dekirk said.
The Lincoln Service line running through Joliet from Chicago to St. Louis saw 633,531 passengers last federal fiscal year, according to Amtrak data—a 25% increase from five years ago. Ridership statewide has increased from 519,000 in 2006 to 1.2 million over that same period. Opponents of Rauner’s plan are rallying to support Amtrak, though it remains to be seen what, if any, effect this will have on plan revisions.
