Metra increases a fare, after saying there’d be no fare increases this year

I can’t say I’m surprised at the outrage some people might be feeling these days toward Metra, the commuter railroad system, for the increase in ticket prices it approved just a couple of days ago.

This increase comes just a couple of weeks after Metra officials told the Cook County Board (which reviews mass transit budgets) that they were preparing a budget for 2013 that calls for no fare hikes. Prices would remain the same, except when they don’t – it seems.

NOW FOR THOSE of you who are confused, keep in mind that Metra technically didn’t  break its word. They kept themselves within the “letter of the law,” so to speak, with regards to fares for the upcoming year.

For the basic fare for those people who ride Metra trains will remain the same. As will the prices charged for those people who purchase monthly passes to allow them to come and go every day without having to make a routine out of shelling out cash!

What Metra’s board increased was the cost of what they call a 10-ride ticket, one that gives you up to 10 rides on a Metra train for a period of up to six months.

The current fare is based on the cost of nine one-way rides, with the 10^th being a freebie on account of the fact that the commuter is coughing up their money up front. Metra gets theirs, and there’s always the chance you could lose a ticket with a ride or two remaining – meaning that they get a financial perk in the process.

BUT COME FEBRUARY, people are going to have to pay for the full 10 rides, which means the only bonus is that you won’t have to wait in the ticket line every single time you want to catch a train.

I honestly believe the fact that they were getting cash up front was a financial plus for Metra that they should have respected. Particularly since it was just this past year that all Metra fares went up – including the cost of the 10-ride tickets (it used to be that you paid the price of eight one-way rides for a 10-ride).

So excuse me for being a little less than sympathetic to Metra for slipping this increase through when their board met Friday.

And yes, I should disclose the fact that I am an occasional Metra train rider who always tries to have a 10-ride ticket on me so that I can just board a train without having to worry about paying for the ride.

CURRENTLY, I’M ON a ticket with three rides remaining. So there is a self-interest I am expressing in this particular rant of a commentary.

Keep in mind that this isn’t just a suburban issue (which is probably how some city dwellers want to view Metra since they probably use the CTA trains and buses for public commutes).

Go out to a neighborhood like Hyde Park where the elevated trains convenience skip by, and it becomes those Metra Electric trains (the ones that are getting new cars that finally will have lavatory facilities) that provide the direct connection to downtown Chicago – along with neighborhoods such as South Shore and South Chicago.

Swing out to the Southwest Side, and it becomes those Rock Island line trains that can take Beverly or Morgan Park neighborhood residents deeper into the city without having to drive a car. It's not just people coming in from Kenosha, Wis. (although there are a few of them as well).

THIS MOVE – WHICH Metra officials say is meant to raise $8.3 million to be used for repairs and maintenance – is going to have an impact on many people,

Which makes me convinced I’m not the only one who feels a bit of disgust – even if an increased cost of a Metra 10-ride is still probably cheaper than the cost of parking one’s car at a downtown garage!

But that’s a rant to be written for another day.

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Quinn or the Illinois Legislature: Who understands our ComEd fears better?

Maybe, just maybe, Gov. Pat Quinn is not a complete nincompoop totally out of touch with what the people of this state, particularly the Chicago-area, think.

QUINN: On our side?



That clueless impression is the one that too many political people want to give these days – even some state government officials who theoretically should be the Mighty Quinn’s allies.

HE’S REALLY TAKING his hits for not giving in promptly on casino gambling expansion. And his proposed budget cuts to allow the state to have a chance to make it through the full fiscal year without running short on cash also get him his share of pot shots.

Yet Quinn on Monday made a move that will also get him some criticism in many quarters. But it has me thinking that Quinn is viewing this issue a little more like a regular person than any other state official.

I’m referring to the measure approved by the General Assembly during the spring that would allow Commonwealth Edison the ability to implement its so-called “smart grid” technology that truly would revolutionize the way the utility provides electrical power to its customers and address emergency situations (such as power outages) in a more efficient manner.

What has the consumer activists, along with a lot of other type of activists (AARP, to name a few), upset is that the bill also contains provisions by which utility rates would go up significantly in coming years to pay for the upgrade.

ACTIVISTS INSIST THIS is just a scheme by ComEd to get those rate hikes, without having to submit to the usual procedures by which the Illinois Commerce Commission reviews rate hike proposals.

These hikes potentially could come every year. And it would be put upon the activists to have to justify why ComEd should NOT get an increase. Rather than the typical process by which the utility in question has to justify why it needs more income.

Quinn, the man who likes to think he’s still that activist who helped found the Citizens Utility Board, sided with the activists. He used his “veto” power to kill the bill.

And he didn’t just slip his rejection through late on a Friday night out of hopes that no one would pay attention. He waited until a bright, sunny Monday morning at the Thompson Center, where he spoke before all the television cameras.

MAJOR PRESS COVERAGE, because there wasn’t much else happening – except for the hangover from this weekend’s “Sept. 11 memorial” frenzy.

“It’s a nightmare for Illinois consumers,” Quinn said – which will be the soundbite that gets used against him as the state Legislature already is plotting how they’re going to override the governor’s rejection.

This bill, along with the casino expansion measure that has yet to come before the governor due to legislative maneuverings, seem to be the issues that state officials are determined to shove right down Quinn’s throat – even though he is inclined to reject them both.

Yet is that really the right thing to do?

I HAVE TO confess to coming to my conclusion about ComEd and the “smart grid” back in June. In my work for one of the suburban Chicago newspapers, I covered a municipal hearing during which ComEd officials appeared to explain in detail how the technology works.

I must admit – it is impressive. It sounds like something that the utilities ought to be striving to accomplish, in large part because it would have made so many past catastrophes easier to cope with and less consuming in the amount of time they took.

This measure has the capability to point out almost immediately the exact location where a problem has developed that has caused a power outage – and can even tell them what caused the problem.

Crews rushing to the scene to make repairs can literally be aware of exactly what will confront them. Instead of the current situation where they only know a general area where a problem has arisen and then they have to scour the scene for the problem – all the while people are getting more and more frustrated without electricity.

BUT MY SENSE is that this issue ultimately comes down to the question, “Do you trust Commonwealth Edison to be capable of implementing the 'smart grid' successfully?”

Be honest.

How many of you immediately responded “Hell, No!!!!!” Then, upon further reflection, changed your answer to a more calm and sincere, “No!”

I sense that too many people fear a “smart grid” system that ultimately won’t work, but will still wind up spending all that cash from rate hikes in the near future to install. All the talk in the world about how much better things could be just isn’t going to sway people who feel they have been burned by ComEd too often in the past.

YET WE STILL have a state Legislature that is plotting the veto override, probably sensing that they need to put Quinn in his place on this issue – like they have done on so many others in recent months.

Which makes me wonder if this is going to be an issue that ultimately bolsters Quinn’s reputation. Will it turn out that he had enough sense to be skeptical of ComEd, and that perhaps the rest of us should have listened to him?

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