Metra unveils 2023 budget, long-term strategic plan

Metra last week proposed a 2023 operating budget of $980 million, which includes fare pricing reductions, and a capital budget of $504 million.

The operating budget is 8.9% higher than the 2022 amended budget. The increase is due to inflationary and contractual cost increases; higher expenses incurred by restoring service to pre-pandemic levels; and costs associated with the transfer of Union Pacific Railroad PSA activities that are planned to begin in 2023, Metra officials said in a press release.

Metra forecasts revenue of $218.2 million and regional transportation sales tax revenue of $523.6 million. Those numbers are based on projections that ridership will start 2023 at 40% of pre-pandemic levels and finish at 55%.

Under Metra's capital budget, the commuter railroad would invest 67% of the $504.6 million into large-scale projects, Metra officials said. Those include station reconstruction, budgeted at $119.5 million; rail-car rehabilitation and purchase, $70.8 million; program management, $38.6 million; locomotive improvements, $33.3 million; bridge replacement and rehabilitation, $32.1 million; ticket vending machine installations, $24.6 million; and aging interlocking replacements, $21.4 million.

The capital budget is funded by a mix of federal, state and Cook County funding. Metra is expecting $252.5 million — a nearly 30% jump from 2022 — in federal formula funding.

The railroad is hosting public hearings about the budget next month.

Also last week, Metra released a draft of its 2023-2027 strategic plan, which identifies and addresses its operational and financial challenges in a post-COVID world, Metra officials said.

Titled "My Metra, Our Future," the plan updates and refines the previous plan known as "On Track to Excellence," which was released in 2017 and covered years 2018 through 2022.

The previous plan primarily focused on Metra's chronic operating and capital funding shortfalls, while the new plan acknowledges that those shortfalls have been addressed in some capacity but remain a concern, officials said. Metra still faces a number of old challenges alongside those introduced by the pandemic, including new commuting patterns, rising demand for new service options and worker retention.

The railroad intends to move toward a regional-rail service model that provides more frequent service throughout the day, officials said. 

Metra is accepting public comments on the plan through an online survey and during public meetings in the coming weeks.