Like the Chicago Bears the other night, it seems the region’s public transit agencies have overcome adversity, which must be a shock to lawmakers toiling this week in Springfield looking for a solution to keep the trains and buses running.

Transit officials with the Regional Transportation Authority, Metra, Pace and the Chicago Transit Authority had warned for months that finances were going off the rails, and that they faced a “fiscal cliff” of more than $771 million next year.

This was while they had their tin cups out in the spring, begging for state relief. Without funding from the Illinois legislature, they had predicted the massive shortfall would cause extensive layoffs among transit workers, along with epic service cuts approaching 40%.

But, voila! The financial crisis has subsi

See Full Page