CHAMPAIGN — The Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District plans to expand its services next year, but that goal could be delayed if the state doesn’t provide the needed funding.
Karl Gnadt, the managing director of MTD and chair of the Illinois Public Transportation Association, said the agency has been trying to extend its service to Carle Health’s Champaign facility on Curtis Road to meet community needs. After years of discussions, they have been permitted to annex the surrounding farmland.
“We finally have an agreement with a landowner that is going to let us annex them, even though it’s farmland, so that we can annex the medical clinic and provide service to it,” he said.
However, Gnadt said he is not sure if the expansion could be completed next year without additional state aid.
Downstate transit agencies in Illinois say they may have to scale back their service plans if the state lawmakers don’t come up with a funding solution. This comes after House Bill 3438 did not pass during the Illinois General Assembly’s spring session this month.
The bill would have provided transit funding through a $1.50 added tax on home delivery orders. Of the funds raised through the tax, 20% would be dedicated to downstate transit agencies like MTD.
Without that funding, Gnadt said MTD would approach a fiscal cliff where rising costs and stagnant funding threaten upcoming projects.
“I don’t know where the funds would come from to do the service expansion, which will be about a year out,” he added. “So right around the same time that our fiscal cliff is happening.”
The lack of funding would not just affect route expansion. MTD is also working on renovating the Illinois Terminal and expanding its hydrogen station used to fuel electric buses. These projects could also be delayed, according to Gnadt.
As chair of the Illinois Public Transportation Association, Gnadt said he works closely with local legislators to communicate the needs of transit agencies.
“On the whole, the legislature is supportive of transit and wants to pass a transit package that will provide the appropriate amount of funding,” he said. “But these are challenging times, and money does not just grow on trees, as everyone knows.”
Even though the bill did not pass in the latest session, Gnadt said he thinks legislators will continue to try.
“My understanding is there’s every intention with the legislators for them to come back and have a special session or deal with it in the veto session in the fall,” he said. “I think they’re committed to doing something.”