Source: Metra.

In October of 2025, the Illinois legislature passed the Northern Illinois Transit Authority (NITA) Act, which supplants and reorganizes the Regional Transportation Authority and its subsidiary service agencies—namely Metra, the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), and Pace. The act nominally takes effect in June of 2026.

At the same time, CTA has started building what some have called one of the costliest rail lines in the world: the extension of the CTA Red Line from 95th St. to 130th St.

The Red Line Extension project relies on a $2 billion federal grant approved in the last days of President Joe Biden's administration. The administration of President Donald Trump, however, froze the funding last October—resulting, said a spokesperson, in CTA "using a line of credit" to pay contractors.

In this episode, you'll hear insights about these major transit developments from a transit professional, Britton Budd. Mr. Budd has been in the railroad industry and transit profession for over 20 years. He's worked with state and local leaders to build support for rail expansion; and he has deep experience with U.S. transportation policy.

So that our guest could speak candidly, without fear of repercussions within his profession, we're not using his real name—and we've disguised his voice.

Length 27.3 minutes.

Music: "Maple Leaf Rag" (Z. Brewster-Geisz version) by Scott Joplin
(Licensed under a Public Domain Mark 1.0 license.)

Standard audio:

View an overview of the NITA Act here (Cloutmeister and higher subscribers):