The Death Spiral at CTA

The circle is getting tighter:

• The CTA has sent out just under 2,000 notices to bus drivers and other unionized employees that their jobs will be eliminated in the next two months.

  The layoffs are part of a plan to close a massive $300 million budget hole. The proposal also includes raising El rides fares to $3 from $2.25 for a single ride, as well as the cost of a monthly pass.

  “They want to mimic what City Hall did with the unions — the furlough days, the unpaid vacations and holidays, things of that nature,” said Darrel Jefferson, president of the bus driver and mechanic’s union, which is expected to bear the brunt of the layoffs. “We’re not open to that.”

Of course they're not. But the noose is drawing tighter. More layoffs mean more service cuts and maintenance delays. Higher prices along with the decaying infrastructure means more people will be tempted to use their own cars and carpool and find alternate means of transportation. Less riders means more layoffs and route cuts and service reductions.

And the slide into becoming Detroit II continues unabated.