Jamie Nelson is a Metra regular.

Two or three times a week, Nelson takes the UP North line from his home near the new Peterson-Ridge station to either Davis Street in Evanston, or Oglivie Transportation Center in downtown Chicago.

Before the new depot opened, Nelson says that between buses and the L, it took him one-hour-and-15 minutes to get downtown.

On Metra, 22 minutes.

And when he comes up to Evanston, 11 minutes.

“It’s been a game changer,” Nelson says, about the availability of convenient, frequent mass transit.

But that game could change for the worse if illinois legislators do not come up with a way to wipe out $771 million in red ink projected for Metra rail, CTA ‘L’ and buses, and PACE buses for next year That’s when federal COVID relief dollars run out.

And time is also running out for a solution.

The Regional Transportation Authority has said if there’s no legislative funding framework in place when the session ends on May 31, the transit agencies will have to start planning for what could be a 40% service reduction, higher fares, and thousands of employee layoffs in 2026.

While legislators have come up with a tentative restructuring of the transit agencies, there has still been no financial resolution put on the lawmakers’ desks.

At the Davis Street Purple Line stop, there was a large variety of those who regularly use transit.

A couple of high school students from Chicago told Evanston Now they rely on the L to get from their homes to school in Evanston.

One, a sophomore at Roycemore School, said “if service stopped, it would be a huge issue for me because this is how I get to my education.”

The other student, a freshman at Beacon Academy, said he started using transit this school year.

“I don’t want to anything that would make it harder” to get to Evanston, he said.

Another ‘L’ rider was a physical therapist who’s been using the Purple Line from home in Chicago to work in Evanston for the past four years, two days a week.

When asked if he was aware of the fiscal cliff, he quickly responded “yup.”

The therapist said he was as much concerned for his patients as he was for himself, should transit become less available and more expensive.

“It would be a big impact on them” if getting to a health care appointment was more costly and time-consuming.

If there is no financial solution by May 31, it’s at least possible that the legislators will kick the can down the tracks ’til the fall veto session, and try again then.

The service cuts and fare hikes would not take effect in until 2026.

But without a solution now, transit advocates say the agencies would have to plan for multiple scenarios … no additional money, some additional money (and if so, how much),or complete coverage of the $771 million “cliff.”

Plus, the RTA is asking for $1.5 billion, in order to expand and improve service, not just maintain the status quo.

So, while passengers wait for their trains or buses, the people who operate those vehicles wait to see how much service they’ll be providing, or if they will even have jobs.

And there’s one more potential loss if service is reduced, one which won’t be seen in any budget.

Fewer trains for four-year-olds to ride with their grandmas.