HB3778 is a major restructuring bill for northeastern Illinois transit. It creates the Metropolitan Mobility Authority (MMA) and consolidates the Chicago Transit Authority, the Regional Transportation Authority, and the RTA’s commuter rail and suburban bus divisions into a single regional authority, while abolishing the existing service boards. The bill also repeals the Metropolitan Transit Authority Act and the Regional Transportation Authority Act and rewrites a large body of related law to fit the new governance structure. In addition to the transit reorganization, it creates a new Equitable Transit-Supportive Development Act, an Office of Equitable Transit-Oriented Development, and a Transit-Supportive Development Fund to support housing and land-use changes near high-quality transit.
The bill gives the new authority broad operational, planning, and financial powers. It would control fares, service standards, capital planning, procurement, transit-oriented development, paratransit oversight, and coordination with IDOT, the Toll Highway Authority, and regional planning agencies. It also establishes new reporting, transparency, and accountability requirements, including public dashboards, annual reports, performance audits, inspector general oversight, and rules for board selection, ethics, and public meetings. The bill further authorizes the MMA to levy and collect several taxes and fees in the metropolitan region, issue bonds and notes, and receive state operating support through dedicated funds and appropriations.
HB3778 would significantly affect state law by replacing references to the old RTA/CTA structure with the new MMA framework across multiple statutes, including public labor relations, ethics, open meetings, freedom of information, aging, public health, and transportation-related laws. It also changes how transit funding is distributed, how labor protections are handled during consolidation, and how local governments can participate in or opt out of the new regional structure in certain counties. The bill is especially consequential for riders, transit workers, local governments, and private transportation agencies that contract with the authority, because it centralizes decision-making and creates new standards for service, fares, and development around transit.
The overall tone of the bill is reform-oriented and strongly supportive of regional transit consolidation. The findings section frames the current system as financially strained, fragmented, and inadequate, and argues that a single integrated authority is needed to improve service, equity, safety, and long-term financial stability. The bill also emphasizes climate, affordability, accessibility for seniors and people with disabilities, and economic development, suggesting a broad policy coalition in favor of modernization and coordination. Because there are no committee transcripts or recorded votes in the provided material, there is no documented legislative debate or formal vote history to indicate opposition or support beyond the bill’s text itself.
The main points of potential contention are the scope of consolidation, the breadth of the new authority’s taxing and borrowing powers, and the degree of state versus local control. The bill abolishes existing service boards and centralizes authority in a new regional board, which could raise concerns among local officials, labor groups, and existing transit governance stakeholders about representation and accountability. Other likely flashpoints include the new taxes, the ability to impose service standards and fare policies regionwide, the treatment of employees and collective bargaining during the transition, and the land-use and transit-oriented development provisions that tie funding to local zoning changes. The opt-out mechanism for certain counties also suggests that local control and regional uniformity are likely to be sensitive issues.
HB3778 would overhaul Illinois transit governance in the Chicago metropolitan region by creating the Metropolitan Mobility Authority as the successor to the CTA, the RTA, and the RTA’s commuter rail and suburban bus divisions, while repealing the existing governing statutes. It would also amend numerous other laws to conform to the new structure, including laws governing labor relations, ethics, open meetings, FOIA, public health, aging, and transportation administration. The bill would centralize fare-setting, service standards, capital planning, and transit funding authority, while preserving employee protections and collective bargaining rights during the transition.
The bill’s stated purpose and structure reflect strong pro-transit, pro-consolidation sentiment. Its findings describe the current transit system as financially stressed, fragmented, and in need of urgent reform, and the bill repeatedly emphasizes equity, accessibility, climate benefits, and regional coordination. Because no committee transcripts or votes were provided, there is no recorded external sentiment to summarize; the available material shows the sponsor’s and bill’s own clear support for a major restructuring approach.
The most notable areas of contention are likely to be governance, taxation, and local control. The bill would eliminate existing service boards and concentrate power in a single regional authority, which may concern local governments and current transit stakeholders about representation and accountability. Its new taxing authority, bonding capacity, and ability to direct fares and service standards could also draw scrutiny from taxpayers, businesses, and suburban counties. Labor protections are extensive, but the transition, consolidation of workforces, and changes to bargaining structures may still be contentious for unions and employees. The bill’s transit-oriented development and zoning incentives may also be debated by municipalities that prefer to retain more land-use autonomy.