State Senate saves free rides for seniors

Regardless of their income, senior citizens can continue riding Chicago area mass transit for free after the state Senate Wednesday preserved what a GOP critic called one of impeached, ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich's "last and most impulsive acts."

A Democratic-led Senate panel narrowly rejected a Republican push to prevent affluent seniors from skirting fares on buses and trains and tying the free-rides program to a retiree's income.

"This is common sense," said Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno (R-Lemont), the legislation's chief Senate sponsor.

"It's the poster child for ineptness and mismanagement," she said of the perk. "And if we can't do something this simple as a means test for free rides for seniors, we shouldn't be here."

Under her plan, which had passed the House, seniors who qualified for the state's Circuit Breaker program could still have received free rides. A single senior would have to have income of less than $27,610 to qualify for the free ride. Those above that threshold would have been entitled to half-price fares.

The RTA pushed for Radogno's legislation, noting that Blagojevich's program that began in 2008 will cost cash-strapped transit agencies under the RTA up to $50 million a year -- far more than the $20 million that had been forecast by the ex-governor.

"This will become an unsustainable burden to the system in the future," RTA Executive Director Steve Schlickman told the Senate Executive Committee.

But Democrats on the panel argued it would be unfair in a bad economy to now prevent senior citizens from riding on CTA buses and trains, Metra or Pace at no cost.

"It's outrageous that in these tough economic times that we would allow anybody -- CTA, RTA, the rest of them -- to come and try to take this one . . . itty bitty little thing away from our dear, poor, struggling senior citizens at a time of economic crisis," said Sen. Rickey Hendon (D-Chicago).

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Photo: Richard A. Chapman, Sun-Times / Seniors will continue to ride local transit free, regardless of income.