FARE WARNING Get ready for $2 CTA rides, less express service, 54 fewer bus routes and Sunday schedules all week starting July 17

Traveling on the CTA -- if state lawmakers don't save the day --would slow to a Sunday's pace and cost more for folks paying cash andusing transit cards.

The CTA Board today marked July 17 as the start of a doomsdayscenario that calls for cutting service nearly 40 percent by scalingback the entire system to the Sunday schedule, with only a fewexceptions.

Aimed at filling a $55 million budget gap, the scenario calls foreliminating 54 bus routes and the Purple Line Express, lengtheningwait times by 68 percent on all buses and trains and laying off morethan 2,000 workers.

"There's not enough funding to maintain anything close to ourcurrent rush-hour schedule. So those commuters will face asignificant challenge of getting to work," CTA Board President CaroleBrown said. "Buses and trains will be significantly more crowded, andall customers face more of a wait time."

Fare hike

The schedule reductions are combined with a fare hike that hitscustomers paying with cash and transit cards the hardest.

They include:

* A 25-cent base fare increase on buses and trains, boosting faresto $2. But riders paying with transit cards will continue to pay$1.75 for a bus ride.

* Elimination of 30-cent transfers, require payment of a full farefor each trip.

* Boosting reduced fares for seniors, students and people withdisabilities from 85 cents to $1.

For customers using Chicago Card, Chicago Card Plus and weekly ormonthly passes, fares would remain at current levels. The current 10percent bonus for Chicago Card and Chicago Card Plus users would beadded for every $20 rather than the current $10 level.

Also, fare hikes for paratransit services that were delayed inJanuary would take effect on July 17, doubling from from $1.75 to$3.50

Yellow Line service -- which doesn't run on weekends -- will bespared execution. The line, which links riders from Skokie to the RedLine at Howard Street, will continue to operate on a weekday schedulewith less frequent rush-hour trains, which will run every 15 minutesinstead of every 7 minutes.

The Doomsday scenario also preserves overnight service on the Redand Blue lines, a cut some board members said would affect too manyshift workers and was a cut they were not willing to make.

Overall, the doomsday scenario is expected to slice CTA ridershipby 100,000 riders a day, nearly 25 percent.

CTA leaders stressed that the proposed cuts and fare hike scenariois a financial "insurance policy" they hope won't be necessary ifstate lawmakers come up with more transit funding.

Gov. Blagojevich issued a statement today urging the CTA Board toput off its vote and travel to Springfield to lobby for his solution:eliminating a corporate software loophole to get the CTA $65 millionin funding.

"You don't need to raise the sales tax or take money from suburbancommuters to help the CTA. And you don't have to threaten CTA riderswith worse service or higher fares. We can help the CTA, preventcuts in service, and prevent fare hikes without making working peoplepay more in taxes. Hopefully the CTA will start helping us helpthem," Blagojevich said.

Who's playing chicken?

Brown said the doomsday scenario is not a threat and the CTA isn'ttrying to scare the General Assembly into coming up with more transitcash.

"Our problem is real ... I would not be standing up here to seewho blinks first," she said.

Kruesi reminded that the proposed cuts and fare hikes are twice asharsh as those proposed in January because the agency has to savejust as much money in half the time. The CTA board delayed those cutsafter being urged by legislative leaders and Blagojevich, who allpledged to make increased transit funding a priority.

Warning time

Wednesday's decision, CTA officials said, came out of necessity.It will take 90 days to warn employees of layoffs and implementservice changes.

"The day has come. We've been putting this off and putting thisoff and we're left holding the bag, " CTA board member Nick Zagottasaid. "We ... have done everything we could to induce our electedofficials in Springfield to get this money to us some way, somehow...

"We had to pick our poison ... This is a plan none of us like, butone we are stuck with."

For bus routes cut see www.suntimes.com