Join IGPA as Rick Funderburg, associate professor of public management and policy at UIS, and Paula Worthington, senior policy advisor at the Civic Federation, discuss their latest research on transit funding in Illinois.

RSVP and add to calendar
*Add to calendar option available after RSVP form is submitted.

IGPA will host Richard Funderburg and Paula Worthington to speak about the so-called “fiscal cliff” for public transit systems across the country, particularly in northeastern Illinois. Transit ridership, which collapsed in 2020 as the COVID pandemic spread, has not fully recovered, with bus trips still well under 80% and rail trips closer to 60% pre-COVID levels. Systems that relied heavily on passenger fare revenues saw correspondingly deep declines in operating revenues. Pandemic-era federal support (to the tune of nearly $70 billion) has ended, and several systems are facing significant budget gaps in the next 12 months. We will explore how, why, and where transit ridership fell and only partially recovered; the resulting financial stress faced by transit agencies; factors limiting a full ridership recovery; and policy options for lawmakers in Illinois and elsewhere.

Dr. Richard Funderburg is a Professor of Public Management and Policy at UIS and co-lead of the Fiscal and Economic Policy working group at IGPA. He has over 30 years’ experience in community economic development policy, including 10 years as a policy analyst with the California Employment Development Department before earning his Ph.D. in Planning, Policy, and Design from the University of California, Irvine. Professor Funderburg has published over 20 studies of community economic development with diverse expertise in labor and land markets, economic impacts, environmental impacts, state and local government finances, infrastructure, energy, transportation and housing.

Dr. Paula R. Worthington is an economist currently serving as Senior Policy Advisor at the Civic Federation and Lecturer at the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago, where she is affiliated with the Center for Municipal Finance. She also has an appointment as a Collaborating Scholar at IGPA. Worthington’s interests are in the state and municipal fiscal policies, with a focus on tax policy, infrastructure, and regulatory policy. She has long served in advisory capacities with public and nonprofit sector groups such as the Metropolitan Planning Council, Cook County, and the State of Illinois. Worthington’s career has also included stints at the Council of Economic Advisors in Washington, D.C. and the Federal Reserve Banks of New York and Chicago.