Overview
- The NITA board held its inaugural meeting on Thursday, Sept. 10, and voted Tom Kotarac as chair while naming Jamie Rhee interim executive director to lead the agency’s start-up.
- State lawmakers delivered about $1.5 billion a year to back NITA through a 0.25% regional sales-tax increase, a large diversion of the state motor-fuel sales tax, and road-fund transfers that allowed the Illinois Tollway to raise tolls.
- The new authority has expanded powers to set fares, coordinate service across CTA, Metra and Pace, require electric buses, buy and sell land for transit-oriented development, and plan investments regionwide.
- Early policy moves include board approval of expanded reduced-fare pilots for SNAP recipients and year-round student passes, and the agency must deploy trained transit ambassadors by July 2027 and deliver a unified fare system by February 2030.
- NITA faces oversight and equity questions because the governance changes cut the total system board seats, reduce Chicago mayoral appointment power, and come after Federal Transit Administration warnings about safety and potential funding risks.