After half a century of overseeing the money for mass transportation in Chicagoland, the board of the Regional Transportation Authority approved its last-ever budget Thursday morning.

The RTA will be replaced by the Northern Illinois Transit Authority (NITA), as part of the state’s transit funding bill which passed the legislature this fall and was just signed by Gov. JB Pritzker.

NITA will have more power to coordinate fares and service among the transit providers, CTA, Metra, and PACE.

The 2026 budget okayed by the RTA has a combined $4.35 billion in operating funds, as well as a 2026-2030 Regional Capital Program of $9.25 billion.

There are no fare increases or service cuts in the 2026 spending plan.

The $1.2 billion coming in from the state’s transit bill heads off the potential “fiscal cliff,” which could have led to service reductions for CTA in 2026, and PACE and Metra in 2027, as well as higher fares for all three.

RTA Executive Director Leanne Redden was quoted as saying “For the first time in years, the RTA is not preparing for a looming crisis, but instead [is] optimistic for the opportunities ahead.”

RTA projects a modest increase in systemwide ridership next year. Passenger boardings have been going up after bottoming out during the COVID-19 pandemic, although still not expected to return to pre-COVID numbers in 2026.

Potential improvements could include expanding service on the CTA Orange Line (Midway Airport) to 24 hours a day, and creating a regional uniformed transit police agency.

Evanston is served by Metra’s UP North line, the CTA Purple Line, and both CTA and PACE buses.

PACE recently increased service on two Evanston lines, one to Schaumburg from downtown, and one to Old Orchard from Howard Street.

Earlier this year, Metra added more UP-N trains on the weekend.