No CTA fare hike in 2016 under proposed budget; Blue Line improvements planned

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The CTA has good news for its riders. Under the transit authority's 2016 budget proposal, there will be no fare hike and no service reductions next year.

CTA officials and Mayor Rahm Emanuel are scheduled to unveil the plan on Thursday.

For the fifth consecutive year, the transit authority plans to keep base fares for trains and buses at $2.25 and $2, respectively.

"All the prices everywhere are going up. So to ride the CTA for cheap and keep the prices the same, it'll all work out," said Roosevelt McCray, who takes the CTA.

The budget includes improvements to 13 rail stations, including the renovation of the Addison station on the O'Hare branch of the Blue Line.

Construction begins in November. A new elevator will be installed, to make the stop fully accessible. It will be part of the $492 million "Your New Blue" project, to upgrade the line that connects O'Hare international Airport and downtown Chicago.

The CTA said express bus service on Ashland and Western avenues - two of the CTA's busiest routes - will start up again, buses and trains will be modernized and new technology will be developed to improve customer experience.

But the Chicago Tribune reports the state still owes the CTA $221 million in capital improvement funding from last year - and this budget hinges on help from the state again next year. It may also hinge on no CTA wage increases and a rollback of transit subsidies that have already been cut.