advertisement

---

Chicago's Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) recently adopted a 2009 budget, providing funds for the authority as well as the regional rail and bus systems it oversees.

The budget includes $2.4 billion in operating expenses, to be divided between RTA, the Chicago Transit Authority, Metra and Pace.

"We are certainly in a better place today than a year ago; our service boards aren't facing doomsday as we did last year that threatened significant, system-wide fare hikes, service cuts and layoffs," said RTA Executive Director Steve Schlickman in a prepared statement.

However, the agencies still need capital dollars, and hope the state legislature approves a funding bill next year.