The agency now overseeing Chicago's transit system has unveiled its first-ever regional budget proposal, a roughly $5 billion operating plan that would add all-night bus service, more frequent trains and over 200 new electric or hybrid buses — all without raising fares. The Northern Illinois Transit Authority, or NITA, released the draft Monday as the first step toward a vote expected next month.
NITA proposed a 2027 operating budget of $5.02 billion, about 16.7% higher than this year's $4.3 billion budget, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. The Daily Herald reports slightly different figures, putting the proposal at $5.04 billion compared with $4.35 billion this year — an increase the paper describes as nearly 16%. Either way, it marks a major jump in spending for the agency that replaced the Regional Transportation Authority in September, and NITA notes this is the first time it has proposed its own budget for the transit agencies it oversees.
No Fare Increases, But a Fare-Evasion Crackdown
Despite the spending bump, the plan does not include any fare hikes, the Daily Herald reports. Instead, the Sun-Times reports NITA is funding a CTA pilot of high-barrier gates early next year specifically aimed at combating fare evasion, alongside continued funding for increased police and social-service presence across the system.
Riders should also expect to see a new face on trains and buses: the budget funds a trained “transit ambassador” customer-service program set to launch next summer, per the Sun-Times account. The additions come as ridership has been climbing — the region's fixed-route system logged 373.5 million rides in 2025, up 12.3 million over 2024, according to the Regional Transportation Authority.
More Buses and Trains Overnight and on Sundays
Six CTA bus routes would gain all-night service under the proposal: the 12 Roosevelt, 35 31st/35th, 47 47th, 72 North, 85 Central and 155 Devon, per the same Sun-Times report. Pace would add Sunday service on routes 501, 507 and 508 in Joliet, routes 524, 530 and 533 in Aurora, and route 213 on Green Bay Road.
Metra, meanwhile, plans more frequent trains on the Rock Island Line, the station's report notes. That ridership growth has been real: Metra saw an 8% year-over-year increase to nearly 38 million rides in 2025, while CTA rail jumped 6% to 135.2 million rides and CTA buses rose 1% to 184 million rides, the RTA reported. Pace bus ridership, by contrast, fell 3% to 16.4 million rides last year.
Billions More for Capital Projects
Beyond day-to-day operations, NITA added around $900 million in new funding to its five-year capital plan, which now totals about $9.7 billion, according to the Sun-Times. The single biggest line item is the Red Line Extension, allocated $3.29 billion, followed by nearly half a billion dollars for new CTA rail cars and $404 million for new CTA buses. Metra's battery-powered trains would get $483 million under the plan.
More than 200 electric or hybrid buses are earmarked for CTA and Pace combined, the outlet reports. Other capital commitments include fixing Blue Line slow zones on the Forest Park branch from Kedzie to Pulaski, rehabilitating the CTA's 43rd Street Green Line station, new elevators at the Western Brown Line station, and nearly 100 new 7000-series L rail cars. A Pace electric bus garage in Waukegan and a new Metra Rock Island Line station at 79th Street and Lowe Avenue round out the project list, per the same account.
Separately, the Daily Herald reports a $9.73 billion 2027 capital budget breakdown that allocates $6.39 billion to CTA, $2.16 billion to Metra and $412 million to Pace, with CTA's operating share projected at $2.5 billion, Metra's at $1.23 billion and Pace's at $381.7 million. The paper also reports that about half of NITA's own proposed $401 million operating budget would be channeled to the transit agencies or used to implement NITA reforms. NITA attributes much of its new spending power to an expected $1.3 billion in additional revenue next year, drawn from an expanded regional sales tax and the redirection of some state sales tax on gas, the Sun-Times reports.
Public Comment Period and Vote Timeline
NITA's role includes creating and approving a regional budget covering the Chicago-area transit system, with its first budget slated for approval in December 2026, according to the Northern Illinois Transit Authority. The draft budget is posted online for public comment through Dec. 4, and the NITA board plans to vote on a final version Dec. 10, the Sun-Times reports. The board will hold a hearing in the Loop on Nov. 12, among several public hearings planned before the vote.
Beyond the budget, a separate Metra draft network plan floated raising Union Pacific North Line service to every 30 minutes in its first phase, and every 15 minutes between Chicago and Winnetka in a second phase, according to the Evanston RoundTable. For now, NITA's budget remains a proposal, with the agency's stated aim of improving service and safety across CTA, Metra and Pace still subject to public input and a board vote next month.
