MPC Senior Director Discusses What’s at Stake for Chicago Transit

What’s At Stake For Chicagoland In Public Transit Debate

Reset with Sasha-Ann Simons | 16 min
May 21, 2025

Illinois lawmakers have until the end of the month to hammer out a budget deal. Public transit agencies in the Chicago area say they’re facing a $770 million shortfall. Sasha-Ann Simons discusses what’s at stake for transit riders in this Reset podcast, joined by Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC) Senior Director Audrey Wennink and Justin Marlowe of the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy.

In part, Audrey talks about how MPC has been advocating to fix the system, and to fund it. She expresses the need for governance reforms to build trust in the system, to give legislators the confidence to actually increase the funding and to give riders confidence that a new day is ahead.