We reported recently on both the Chicago Transit Authority’s budget crisis and
the need for transit agencies to help see through important development in order to bring in new riders and generate a positive brand image. What do they have in common? They are both precarious situations that require a strong and well-tended relationship with public AND private entities. Playing to each crowd is certainly one of the more difficult tasks with which agencies must contend, as they have to satisfy both notoriously hard-to-please sides of the aisle.
Chicago’s recent doomsday crisis has thankfully been averted by a bizarre and very unpleasant combination of legislative finagling and public outcry. Now, in the aftermath, the agency is subject to a series of retrospectives that highlight its rocky fiscal history and maintenance shortcomings. As seemingly painful as these reports are, however, they bring to light a very obvious point: the nation’s transportation infrastructure is severely underfunded and hampered by bureaucracy.
Now, with a new wave of legislative transportation changes on the horizon (read: a major primary election and a recent federal report), agencies stand to benefit from playing to both public and private interests, namely transit-friendly legislators and keyed-in riders.
Part II coming soon…
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