FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 8, 1999

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CALL:

Neighborhood Capital Budget Group Board President Mildred Wiley – (773)533-8007
Executive Director Jacqueline Leavy – (312)939-7198

Metro Seniors in Action
Charles Spears, Transportation Chair, or James Thwinda – (312)341-4733

January 8, 1999 - A week after the Big Snow, things are only just beginning to return to normal for frustrated transit riders who depend on the CTA. But the Blizzard of ’99 merely confirmed what citizens’ groups have warned the CTA and the City about for years: Chicago’s transit system is on the verge of collapse and needs to be rebuilt. Metro Seniors in Action and the Neighborhood Capital Budget Group, both long-time transit advocates, are calling on transit users to form a "Campaign for Better Transit" to unite the customers of the CTA. Only then can the supporters and riders of public transit have a strong enough voice to demand solutions to the crisis.

Poor management, misplaced spending priorities, and apathy by public officials at every level may all have contributed to the long-simmering crisis at CTA. What the public wants and deserves is corrective action to prevent any future CTA debacles.

The Campaign for Better Transit will announce its first membership and recruitment meeting, and issue a call for action by the Mayor and the City Council at a press conference:

NCBG and Metro Seniors call on frustrated and angry transit riders to join forces by signing up for membership in the Campaign for Better Transit at a mid-January meeting where they will learn about similar efforts in other cities. At the meeting, transit riders will also write and ratify a "Transit Riders’ Bill of Rights."

At today’s press conference, transit riders will release a letter to the Mayor and the City Council calling for:

• A special City Council session next week to investigate the CTA meltdown.
• An Emergency Action Plan to restore CTA service, protect riders’ safety, and prevent future system-wide breakdowns.
• An emergency summit between the City and Governor-elect George Ryan.

The Blizzard of ’99 should galvanize transit riders and supporters to launch the Campaign for Better Transit and spur the City to take the necessary steps to revitalize Chicago’s public transportation system. It is time to give transit’s constituents a voice, and demand solutions to CTA’s chronic problems that came so clearly into focus during the Big Snow.