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RTA official outlines new state transit funding bill and what it could mean for DuPage
Summary
An RTA deputy executive director told the DuPage County Board that a recently passed state transit bill could add roughly $1.2 billion annually to public-transit funding statewide, shift motor-fuel sales tax revenue, and create governance changes effective June 1, 2026; local impacts may include capital projects and service expansions.
Maulik Vaishnav, deputy executive director of planning and capital programming at the Regional Transportation Authority, briefed the DuPage County Board on a recently passed state transit bill and what it could mean locally.
Vaishnav said the legislature approved a measure (reported as state bill 2111 in the presentation) that would move a portion of the motor-fuel sales tax and grant the regional authority new powers, generating roughly $1.2 billion a year in additional public funding for transit across the state once fully effective. The bill also gives the RTA board authority to raise the RTA sales tax in the six-county region subject to board votes, and adds capital funding from road-fund interest.
He said the bill lowers the fare-recovery requirement from 50% to 25% (and subsequently to 20%), which the RTA sees as helping avoid service cuts and layoffs, and that IDOT and the new governance structure would oversee a transition to a Northern Illinois Transit Authority (NITA) effective June 1, 2026. Vaishnav said some DuPage priorities in the five-year capital program include improvements to Glen Ellyn Highlands and West Hinsdale Metra stations and a PACE pulse route on Cermak.
County board members asked about potential local infrastructure such as parking decks and expressed concern about shifting road-fund revenue to transit and the balance of regional appointments on the new board. Vaishnav said local zoning and municipal processes remain intact even where parking minimums are altered and noted opportunities for coordinated planning and expanded fare programs in out years.
Vaishnav outlined next steps including a virtual public hearing and regional budget adoption timelines: public comment Nov. 14–Dec. 5, virtual hearing Dec. 4, and regional budget adoption Dec. 18.
