Chicago Transit Authority Acting President Nora Leerhsen said the agency has entered a “new phase” after the Illinois General Assembly failed last month to pass a measure tackling a $770 million budget gap for Chicago-area transit.

This year marks the eighth year the Pride train is running on the Red Line.

A version of the bill passed in the Senate, sponsored by Sen. Ram Villivalam, D-Chicago. But the House adjourned early Sunday morning without concurring as some of its tax hikes became too controversial. Now, the future of Chicagoland transit is in limbo as the bill awaits further action.

The measure, filed late Wednesday night, features a new menu of revenue sources to help keep Chicago-area buses and trains running. Lawmakers believe the measure will be enough to address the anticipated $770 million fiscal cliff next year.

The bill would replace the Regional Transportation Authority, which oversees CTA, Metra, and Pace, with a new entity called the Northern Illinois Transit Authority. It would be charged with creating a universal fare system and ensuring coordination of service and capital projects.

The Chicago Transit Authority has paid out more than $1 million over the past five years to vault operations employees for remote work, despite the fact that their work cannot be done remotely, a new watchdog report has found.

The Illinois General Assembly returned from the long weekend break for its final week of the spring session. Lawmakers have until May 31 to pass a revenue and spending plan with a simple majority of votes.

CTA, Metra and Pace are facing a $770 million hole in their budget next year and are urging the Illinois General Assembly to pass a public transportation funding and reform bill to avoid service cuts and major layoffs at each agency.

The Chicago Transit Authority ran one of its vintage railcars Friday morning as part of its Heritage Fleet program, which aims to preserve and celebrate retired railcars and buses going as far back as the early 1900s.

The Chicago Transit Authority board of directors saw a highly unusual heated exchange at its monthly meeting, with Ald. David Moore (17th Ward) warning directors not to be a “backbiting snake” and oppose Mayor Brandon Johnson’s reported pick for the transit agency president.

The Chicago Transit Board took no action on the potential appointment of a new agency president at a hastily scheduled special board meeting Thursday afternoon, despite widespread concern the meeting would see directors consider Mayor Brandon Johnson’s reported pick for the role.

Data obtained by WTTW News shows the overall number of bus and train operators who worked for the CTA last year neared its pre-pandemic peak of employees. As a result, the amount of overtime worked dropped.

If lawmakers don’t reach a deal to reform the northeastern Illinois transit system and introduce new funding before their May 31 adjournment, transit officials say it will result in significant cuts, which would result in a “nightmare scenario,” according to Regional Transportation Authority spokesperson Tina Fassett Smith.

A $25 million reconstruction project to improve accessibility at the Green Line’s Austin station on the West Side is underway amid broader funding uncertainty that stands in the way of efforts to make all rail stations on the Chicago Transit Authority fully accessible by 2038.

The CTA, Metra and Pace are facing an impending budget gap when federal COVID-19 relief funding runs out next year. Transit labor groups have stopped short of calling for a merging of the transit systems as a funding solution, unlike what some advocacy groups have called for.

The CTA board of directors approved the purchase of cameras aimed at catching bus lane scofflaws on Wednesday, making good on a plan announced last year as part of a pilot program.