I guess a White House Proclamation wasn’t enough visibility. This bus was seen in Naperville. PACE Suburban Bus is a public system serving suburban Chicago communities. It is heavily supported by taxpayers and less so fare-riders, so how they spend their money is important to everyone.
It is unclear at this time if taxpayers paid for the very expensive wrapping on the bus or if they let the sexual identity-obsessed radicals pay for it as advertising. Either way, this messaging is selling sex and shouldn’t be allowed.
So now that they have raised their profile, time to look at what else is going on. When I was in the statehouse, I was a member of the Mass Transit Committee. It went away in 2015, came back in 2017 and then the committee was disbanded in 2019 and hasn’t returned. The Committee was very interesting. Lots of discussions about the RTA, METRA, CTA and PACE. Lots of controversy too. The head of Metra in 2013, Alex Clifford, said his job was threatened because he wouldn’t play ball on giving Madigan-connected people jobs and pay raises. Maybe that’s why the Mass Transit committee went away.
But, these agencies – and the downstate transit systems – need oversight.
PACE ridership has dropped 40% from 32.8 million in 2019 to an estimated 19.8 in 2024.
In 2024, looking at just their suburban service and not including their ADA paratransit service, the revenue collected from operations (fares, contracted services, advertising) is expected to be 40.6 million, with farebox revenue being only half of that amount at $20.2 million. Expenses are expected to be 333.3 million.
That means tax money picks up 88% of the cost of every ride.
In 2019, when ridership was 65% higher, expenses were only $236 million – 30% lower, and 24% of the cost was covered by operating revenue, leaving 76% covered by taxes.
Another problem, PACE is also ALL-IN on the green energy scam. According to their budget documents, they plan to have 23 battery electric buses in service in 2024 with a goal of zero emissions by 2040.
They should consult with Connect Transit in Bloomington-Normal. As I mentioned before, emails between Connect Transit and Rivian showed that ConnectTransit must charge their buses in a heated garage during the winter and cannot charge them between the hours of 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm because it is too expensive. The emails highlighted in this article from the blog site BLN News are comical and alarming.
These public transit systems were expensive before COVID, with taxpayers who may never even use a PACE bus or ride on Metra stuck paying for 50% to 76% of the ride. Given the drop in ridership, massive increases in costs, objectionable sexual messaging, and investment into EV buses, taxpayers should demand a re-evaluation of the entire system and their priorities.