Found on StreetsBlogChicago:
Another person who spoke against the legislation was McHenry County’s Assistant Director of Transportation Scott Hennings.
He said his county believes transit reform has three bench principles.
Those included the principal that increased State transit funding should be the highest priority of the legislation.
Kane (sic) County would support new legislation to open the suburbs so that all sales tax-paying residents of the region would realize the benefits of our transit system.
The third is that the best way to update the transit system is by strengthening the RTA: giving it more authority over fare policy, safety/security, capital planning, funding allocation, and regional service planning.”
“We support aspects of this bill, such as the attention to agency executive performance and board member accountability,” Hennings concluded.
“We also support the bill’s focus on equitable transit-oriented development incentives and the recognition that roadway agencies such as the Illinois Tollway, IDOT, and county DOTs have pivotal roles to play to ensure transit operates efficiently. However, we continue to believe that consolidating all trains and services under the MMA is both unnecessary and potentially counterproductive to the goal of improving transit for our residents. By by requiring only a simple majority for all actions, MMA has the potential to be captured by interests that represent only one part of our region to the detriment of others.”
