The 1999-2003 Capital Improvement Program

• No buses over the industry standard retirement age of 12 years. All buses rehabilitated at six to seven years. In special circumstances, bus lives may be extended to 14 years, but any extension beyond 14 years creates significant maintenance problems that affect service quality. This ensures reliability and rider comfort, and can reduce maintenance expenses.

• All rail cars rehabilitated at mid-life (12-13 years), overhauled at their quarter-life points (6 and 18 years), and either rehabilitated or replaced at the end of their useful life (25 years). Vehicle life can be extended to 30 years, but extension beyond 30 years begins to raise serious maintenance issues and affects the quality of service we can give our customers.

• All rail stations in good condition, and able to meet modern standards for passenger comfort, security, and reliability. It is difficult to accomplish this with stations older than 40 years and nearly impossible with those over 70 years.

• All rail lines operate at scheduled speeds; no areas are slowed down because of track or structural disrepair. Rail signal systems are fully reliable and meet modern standards of performance.

• Service management systems are fully reliable and incorporate modern features. Such systems are used to send information between CTA's Control Center and its vehicles and stations, and are especially important in dealing with emergencies and service problems.

• All maintenance facilities designed and kept in good condition, to permit buses and trains to be maintained efficiently and effectively. CTA cannot ensure a quality ride if it lacks the wherewithal to maintain its vehicles. As with stations, 40 years is a desirable standard for replacing maintenance facilities, but CTA's experience is that with suitable maintenance and reinvestment such buildings can effectively serve for as much as 70 years.

• Certain categories of capital funds can be used to help ensure the adequate maintenance of assets such as buses and rail cars. CTA has judiciously taken advantage of this provision in order to budget for essential services while keeping the bulk of its capital funds committed to replacing or renewing the equipment and facilities we need to provide transit service. It is important to maintain this level of commitment until operating expenses can be cut and/or operating funding can be increased.
  

Meeting these standards would significantly improve the comfort and reliability of the services we provide our customers, and yield operational and maintenance benefits for CTA.

1999-2003 Capital Improvement Program: Funding the CIP
The funding levels used in preparing the 1999-2003 CIP are consistent with capital program marks set by RTA. These include $1.48 billion from the Federal Transit Administration, $116 million from the State of Illinois, $146 million from the RTA, and $32 million from CTA. CTA also intends to cancel a 1997 project with $2.67 million remaining, and reassign those funds to new priorities. Total available funding is $1.78 billion. This is presented in the table "1999-2003 Five Year Preliminary Program Marks."

The Federal funds are consistent with the recently enacted Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21). The estimate of State of Illinois funds assumes that the State will continue to authorize and appropriate at recent levels even though a law that authorizes this does not exist. Thus, CTA considers this funding to be at risk.

While the projected funding totals $1.78 billion, the projects being presented total $1.91 billion. The difference is that the CIP includes two projects authorized by Congress for FTA New Start funding: rehabilitation of the Douglas Branch on the Blue Line and expansion of the station platform capacity on the Brown Line. However, the required non-federal match for these two projects is not yet available. More specifically, the CIP assumes that the $138 million required to match these federal funds between 2000 and 2003 will be authorized by the State and added to the funding projection. If this is not done, the CIP would actually shrink to about $1.22 billion and over $550 million in FTA New Start Funds could never be claimed.

Additional State funds to match the Federal New Start grants, while necessary, do not adequately address CTA's capital investment requirements. CTA should commit $4.1 billion over the next 5 years, and the current CIP is only $1.9 billion. The gap of $2.2 billion means that vehicles, stations, tracks and facilities will get older, less reliable, and unable to provide satisfactory service.

1999-2003 Capital Improvement Program: Proposed Projects
The table, titled "Proposed FY 1999-2003 Capital Improvement Program", lists the projects in the proposed program by category of asset being improved or replaced. A detailed description of each project can be found in the "Proposed 1999 Annual Budget & Department Detail and 1999-2003 Capital Program" volume of the CTA's 1999 budget documentation.

In summary, the capital program addresses the most critical capital investment needs facing CTA, within the projected funding level. By category:

• Bus System: The CIP includes $49,656,473 in 1999 for the bus system; the five-year funding is $268,879,234. The Program funds year 2 and 3 of a three-year program to replace approximately 440 overage standard buses, and replaces 78 overage articulated buses. It continues to provide budgetary support to the maintenance of the bus fleet. The Program begins to replace 957 buses which entered service in 1991 (this will continue past 2003). It funds purchase of a small number of buses powered by alternative fuels, to be used in specialized services now being planned. It continues to invest in passenger shelters at bus stops, providing both new locations and rehabilitating existing shelters.

• Rail Cars: The CIP has 1999 funding of $39,467,568; the five-year funding is $268,927,809. It continues funding the mid-life rehabilitation of 598 rail cars, completing this project by 2002. It can afford 582 of these cars; the remainder may be affordable depending on future funding levels and inflation. The CIP will design the cars to replace 144 cars first placed in service in 1970 and design a life extending rehabilitation of cars placed in service in 1976-77. It also continues to support the budget for maintaining rail cars.

• Rail Lines: The proposed Program provides 1999 funding of $17,343,915, and five-year funding of $196,601,981. Signal system improvements to protect CTA track workers, structural repairs on the Red Line, protective coating for the McCormick Bridge in Evanston, track renewal on the Congress Branch of the Blue Line, and heavy maintenance needed at various locations are projects funded in 1999. Small amounts of funding to move forward with rehabilitating the Douglas Branch of the Blue Line, and increasing the passenger capacity of the Brown Line are also included. A variety of other projects are funded in later years. Highlights include: a new Rail Service Management System, replacing signals in the Dearborn Subway and designing new signals for the Congress Branch, finishing the rehabilitation of the Milwaukee Avenue and the South Loop El structures, protective coating of additional bridges and structures, beginning to rehabilitate viaducts along the Purple Line, renewing special track work on the Dan Ryan Branch of the Red Line, renewing footwalk on the Brown and Red Lines, and realigning the tight curves at Harrison on the South Loop El.

• Rail Stations: The CIP includes 1999 funding of $76,000,000; the five-year funding is $173,742,057. The proposed Program for 1999 includes building a new station at Central Park-Conservatory on the Lake Branch of the Green Line, reconstructing Western/O'Hare station, and providing full disabled accessibility. The following seven stations will have full disabled accessibility: 95/Dan Ryan, Jefferson Park/O'Hare, Logan Square/O'Hare, 35-Sox/Dan Ryan, Indiana/South Side El, U of I - Halsted/Congress, and Kedzie-Homan/Congress. The later years of the program include reconstructing Wilson/Howard and 95/Dan Ryan, providing accessibility at Fullerton on the Red and Brown Lines, participating in a proposed joint development at Howard Station, and replacing escalators in the downtown subways. CTA hopes to fund the Fullerton project under the Ravenswood Capacity Expansion project, if that project can proceed quickly.

• Shops & Garages: 1999 funding in this category is $3,983,798; the five-year funding is $68,690,921. The 1999 Program funds roof and general repairs at CTA facilities. The out years include rehabilitating Archer Garage, performing electrical improvements at Des Plaines rail shop (Congress Branch), expanding the rail shop at 98th on the Dan Ryan Branch of the Red Line, upgrading the bus washing capability at Forest Glen garage, and continuing roof and general repairs. Staff is reviewing the long-term need for Archer Garage, and CTA will not commit funds to its rehabilitation unless this review determines Archer is necessary. The Forest Glen bus washer project in 2000 may be accelerated into 1999 if design work progresses faster than expected; vehicle cleanliness, being an important part of CTA's mission, will be given priority.

• Miscellaneous: The CIP includes 1999 funding of $23,194,412, and 5-year funding of $106,323,373. This category contains a great variety of projects. Among the most significant are improved signs to help our customers navigate the CTA system, enhancements to make the recently implemented automated fare collection system more convenient, improved computer systems needed to ensure efficiency, and a variety of marketing initiatives.

• New Starts: This category is also a distinct funding source in the federal program structure. The 1999 CIP table does not include any funds in this category, but a small amount of funding is included under "Rail Lines." Funding for the entire five-year Program is $688,750,000. CTA worked very closely with Mayor Daley, members of the Chicago City Council, and members of the Illinois Congressional delegation to get two projects included in the "New Start" category of TEA-21: the rehabilitation of the Douglas Branch and the expansion of the Brown (Ravenswood) Line capacity. The Douglas Branch project has an earmarked federal budget of $315 million. The Brown Line project has no specific earmark, but current estimates place the federal share at $240 million. New Start projects must meet special criteria before they can be awarded grants for construction. Among the most significant requirements is that a secure source of the 20% non-federal match be identified and committed at the start of the project. These funds are not available at this time; thus, the State must act to provide them if the federal funds are to be granted. The unfunded non-federal share requirement is $137,750,000.
  
  The Douglas project will renew this branch of the Blue Line by replacing or rehabilitating the entire elevated structure, the terminal complex at 54th Avenue in Cicero, and most of the stations. The Brown Line project will extend station platforms and make other improvements so CTA can run 8-car trains on this line; we are now limited to 6-car trains, and cannot provide enough capacity to carry all the customers who wish to ride. These projects will also provide full ADA accessibility at all Ravenswood stations from the Kimball terminal to the Merchandise Mart, and all Douglas stations from 54th to Polk.

CTA's Capital Investment Needs versus Projected Funding
How well does CTA's proposed Capital Improvement Program meet the goal of putting its system in a state of good repair?

Staff estimates that CTA should program $4.1 billion between 1999 and 2003 in order to address all capital investment needs that are within our capacity. However, only $1.8 billion is projected to be available from federal and state sources - a mere 43% of the needed investment. The majority of these funds come from federal sources under TEA-21. The projects in the Program total $1.9 billion, which includes the non-federal match for the New Start projects explained above. Therefore, unless the State of Illinois acts, much needed work will not be completed. Some of the needs that will not be addressed are:

• Buses: CTA expects to operate 1,870 buses in 2003. If no capital grants are approved after 1998, 1,337 buses (71%) will be older than the standard retirement age of 12 years, including 20% that will be severely overage (14 years old or older). The proposed CIP commits over $200 million to replace all of the severely overage buses and about 300 of the buses that will be 12 or 13 years or not air-conditioned. Even with this large commitment to our bus riders, CTA will still be operating 635 buses over 12 years of age, and will not have funded their replacement. This would cost almost $200 million more; it is reflected in the needed $4.1 billion, but is over the amount in the CIP.
  
  In addition, by 2003, CTA will have 1,364 buses overdue for their mid-life rehabilitation, at a cost of $93 million. We cannot afford any such rehabilitations in the proposed CIP. All of these are unfunded needs.
  
  
• Rail Cars: If no new capital grants are forthcoming, CTA's fleet of 1,160 rail cars will include 338 (29%) which are overage by 2003; 144 (12%) will be severely overage (30 years or older). The proposed CIP is not able to replace or rehabilitate any of these cars; all it can fund is the engineering work needed to replace them or extend their lives through rebuilding. If CTA's capital needs were fully funded, we would replace all 144 cars that would be over 30 years, and would be in the midst of a multi-year program to rehabilitate the 194 which are slightly younger. This would require over $270 million; another $102 million would be needed in 2004-2005 to complete the rehabilitation work.
  
  In addition, CTA is aggressively moving forward to rehabilitate 598 rail cars, half its fleet, at their mid-life. The CIP funds all but 16 of these cars at a cost of $217 million, in addition to $149 million already committed. This represents a shortfall of $9 million.
  
  Rail cars should also be rehabilitated at their quarter-life points, approximately 6 and 18 years of age. CTA cannot afford any of these rehabilitations in the CIP. If our needs were fully funded, we would dedicate over $70 million to perform this work on 452 cars that will need it between 1999 and 2003.
  
  
• Rail Stations: By 2003, if no new capital funds were forthcoming, 65 of CTA's 151 rail station entrances will be over 40 years of age (43%); 46 will be over 70 years (31%). The CIP has a heavy commitment to stations, but much of this is to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act which does not reconstruct stations and reduce their effective age. Therefore, the CIP only addresses 12 old stations, 8 on the Douglas Branch of the Blue Line, Fullerton and Belmont on the Red/Brown/Purple Main Line, Wilson on the Red Line, Western on the O'Hare Branch of the Blue Line, at a cost of $270 million. Other station improvements include the new Central Park-Conservatory Station on the Green Line and the replacement of escalators in the downtown subways.
  
  If sufficient funds were available, CTA would also rehabilitate the 10 stations on the Congress Branch of the Blue Line, from U of I-Halsted to Harlem, at an additional cost of $79 million.
  
  
• Rail Lines: Rail track and structure deteriorate with usage and the passage of time. If it is not maintained to high standards, eventually the speed of the trains must be reduced in order to ensure safety. One way to measure the overall quality of rail infrastructure is to look at how much of the system must operate at reduced speeds due to poor conditions.
  
  Out of 232 miles of mainline track, 15 miles must operate at reduced speed due to poor condition. The CIP will repair four miles of such track, at a cost of $6 million. Full funding of CTA's capital needs would address the remaining 11 miles, at a further cost of $39 million. The CIP commits far more than $6 million to track and structure rehabilitation, but much is spent to maintain areas which do not yet have to be slowed in order to avoid that necessity altogether.
  
  
• Communications and Signals: The CIP addresses most of CTA's identified needs in this area because these projects are so important to safe and on-time operation. It includes a new rail communication system (the Rail Service Management System), new signals for the Dearborn Subway, the Douglas Branch and part of the Brown Line, and design for new signals on the Congress Branch of the Blue Line, which total $112 million in the CIP. For an additional $74 million, the signal program could be accelerated, the Congress Branch signals could be replaced and various interlocking signals could also be improved.
  
  
• Maintenance Facilities: Although rarely seen by the public, maintenance facilities are of vital importance. If garages and shops are obsolete, the cost of maintaining our vehicles will be high and the quality low. CTA operates 8 garages for buses and one for its service vehicles. Five will be over 40 years old in 2003; two of these will be over 70 years. The CIP includes $26 million to substantially rehabilitate one of the oldest garages, which would still leave four overage and one very old. With full funding of CTA's capital needs, we would also rebuild the other very old garages and begin design work to rebuild two of the garages between 40 and 70 years old. This would require another $53 million.
  
  At or near each rail terminal, CTA operates a shop to house daily maintenance on the rail cars which serve that line. There are 10 of these shops. In 2003, four will be over 40 years old and two of those over 70 years. The CIP does not address these aging shops except to make necessary, small improvements. With more funding, CTA would replace one of the very old shops at a cost of $23 million. This project might allow for consolidation of the two oldest shops, which would result in retiring both of them. This is a matter that requires study.
  
  CTA also operates three major shops for rail car heavy maintenance (Skokie Shops), bus heavy maintenance (South Shops), and facilities maintenance (West Shops). Skokie Shops are currently being rebuilt and modernized. South and West Shops consist of multiple buildings of different ages, but for the most part they are each quite old. The CIP does not address the major rehabilitation needs at either. If funds were available for CTA's entire list of needs, we would fund the rehabilitation of these two shop complexes at a cost of $142 million.
  
  
• Maintenance: The CIP commits $124 million to capital-eligible maintenance of buses, rail cars and facilities. The CTA's list of needs includes $361 million for such projects, if adequate capital funds were available. Using capital funds in this way assumes that additional operating funds are not available.

Looking Ahead
Much of CTA's physical plant was built before World War I. The majority of the remaining ones were built between 1940 and 1970. We continue to operate on rail structures over 100 years old. Prior to 1972, CTA and the private companies which preceded it chronically underfunded capital reinvestment. Significant amounts of Federal and State capital grant funds became available starting in 1972. To date, over $4 billion in grants have been received. These funds have been enormously important to enable CTA to continue to meet the service requirements of its riders. However, the advancing age and usage of very old facilities is pushing our reinvestment needs faster than current funding programs can solve.

Although the federal government enacted major transit funding legislation in 1991 and again 1998, the State of Illinois has not done so in nearly a decade. In 1989, the Illinois General Assembly authorized the RTA to undertake $1 billion in capital bonding on behalf of CTA, Metra and Pace. The three service boards together committed substantially all this money by 1995, and would have done so sooner had a follow-on program been in place. The CTA reconstructed its Green Line in 1994-96, and demonstrated that it could effectively manage a large reconstruction program. These actions produced tremendous momentum in rebuilding the CTA; however, this momentum began to wane in 1996 after the Green Line reopened and no new funding was available.

With critical support from Mayor Daley, members of the Chicago City Council, and our Congressional delegation, CTA secured New Start funding to rehabilitate the Douglas Branch which is now the most deteriorated portion of our system, and to expand the passenger capacity of Brown Line Stations to serve the burgeoning North Side communities. Metra worked to secure funding for strategically important expansions of its suburban service, also with notable success.

There is no question that CTA, Metra and Pace, require additional capital funding support, and can put large sums to immediate, productive use, to the benefit of the public and the communities we serve. It is now up to the State of Illinois to, assure the non-Federal matching funds required by CTA and Metra, so that our successes in Washington are not squandered; and then, to commit to a new program to replace the successful 1989 program which is now fully committed and will soon be spent out

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