Chicago's 'doomsday' transit crisis: Lawmakers near deal to plug $770M gap

Paris on Politics: Metra/CTA/Pace face $770M shortfall, but is a deal close?

FOX 32s Paris Schutz has the latest on politics in Chicago, the state of Illinois, and across the nation.

CHICAGO - State lawmakers say they’ve reached an agreement on several aspects of a major transit funding bill that would help the CTA, Pace and Metra avoid a collective $770 million fiscal cliff.

What we know:

The lawmakers have been negotiating a compromise that would give a "central authority" more power over the region’s transit system, but it would stop short of abolishing the separate agencies and merging them into one.

"There’s been consensus on consolidating responsibilities to a central authority," said State Senator Ram Villivalam (D-Lincolnwood). "Making sure a central authority has the ability to prioritize capital projects, implement a region-wide fare policy plan and so much more."

Lawmakers appear ready to support more funding for the transit systems, but not until certain benchmarks are met — namely cost-cutting — a single fare card to use across all systems, and better coordination.

"The real reform is going to ensure that if a peak metra train leaves from Naperville or Deerfield at 8:05, then the central authority has to tell the pace bus to arrive at that metra station for residents to utilize it 10 minutes prior to that peak metra train, and that is what we’re looking for in terms of a central authority whether it's RTA or not," Villivalam said.

Regional Transportation Authority Chairman Kirk Dillard has asked the state for a $1.5 billion increase in transit funding to get the systems to what he calls "full funding."

"The transit systems are at a crossroads," Dillard said. "But we also want reform and a more concentrated way to work with all the service boards."

What's next:

Leaders of the CTA, Pace and Metra have all testified against merging the agencies, saying it would take away local input from mayors, county executives and other public officials. 

Gov. J.B. Pritzker has also been cool to the idea. But a compromise bill appears to have bipartisan support.

"$1.5 billion might be on the high end, but we’ve got to do what we can to avert this fiscal cliff," said State Rep. Brad Stephens (R-Rosemont). "But there has to be a lot of heavy lifting on the other side from the agencies."

RELATED: Chicago’s ‘doomsday’ transit crisis: Major service cuts loom without funding