On Tuesday, June 24, Governor Blagojevich threatened to eliminate two programs that matter to transit riders.  The first was the State support for student & disabled riders and free rides to seniors.  Those services are mandated.  The end result would be reduced transit budgets statewide.

More shocking, however, is the Governor’s threat to eliminate the Amtrak Illinois program.  This program was doubled in 2006 and has far surpassed all expectations.  The Governor’s outline of the threatened cuts states that since 2007 ridership has increased “from 42% to 67%, depending upon the line.”  Trains are frequently sold out.  Service needs to double again to meet growing demand.

(To illustrate the scale of the Amtrak funding, the Illinois DOT recently received a special appropriation for roadkill clean up that was roughly double the size of the annual Amtrak appropriation.)

It is hard to believe that the Governor would cut transit funding and eliminate Amtrak Illinois service as gas prices march towards $5.00, but we have to treat the threat as very real.

Please tell the Governor that we should be expanding transit statewide.  Ask him, again, to stop playing political games with this critical service.