State lawmakers and Geneva Mayor Kevin Burns welcomed passage of the Northern Illinois Transit Authority Act – known as NITA – and detailed its benefits to local suburbs.

The Northern Illinois Transit Authority Act replaces the Regional Transportation Authority – known as the RTA – effective June 1, 2026. Senate Bill 2111 passed the legislature Oct. 31 and awaits the governor’s signature.

Speaking at a news conference Nov. 25 at the Geneva Metra station, State Rep. Matt Hanson, D-Montgomery, said they faced a fiscal cliff and climbed a figurative educational mountain to get the bill passed.

“Transit has been a part of my life for 21 years,” Hanson said. “I’m a trailblazer and then I’m the first railroader (BSNF Railway engineer) to be in the General Assembly. That was useful for a while. We talked over and over about the fiscal cliff.”

The “fiscal cliff” was more than a $200 million shortfall that threatened a 40% service cut, according to transit agencies.

The legislation provides $1.5 billion to a new, expanded regional transportation plan, documents show.

Most of it, $860 million, will come from shifting the sales tax on motor fuel from the road fund to the public transportation fund, documents show.

Another estimated $200 million will come from interest in the road fund and raising the existing Regional Transportation Authority sales tax by 0.25% to 1% in Lake, McHenry, Kane, DuPage and Will counties and 1.25% in Cook County. The tax hike will generate $478 million, officials said.

Road fund interest, estimated at $200 million per year, will go to transit capital investments moving forward, with 90% going to NITA and 10% downstate.

Hanson’s said they climbed an “education mountain” to help people understand the existing transit system’s complexities to come arrive at solutions.

“The real journey is still ahead of us,” Hanson said.

The bill supports paratransit, which was not only underfunded, Hanson said, but was created without a funding mechanism.

Paratransit is a reservation-based, shared-ride transportation service for people with disabilities or health conditions who cannot use regular fixed-route buses or trains.

“This district alone, the 83rd, has over 16,000 residents over 65-year-old and 9,000 residents with disabilities,” Hanson said. “They rely on paratransit to get to church, to get to the doctor to get to their everything that is a part of their life.”

Now, all 118 representative districts will have a funding mechanism for their own paratransit agencies, Hanson said. Kane County has Ride in Kane.

“We know that these communities thrive when you have access to transportation,” Hanson said. “We will continue to make sure this is not only sustainable – and that is what this bill is about is the funding for it – and making sure the leadership is there to see the big picture every single day to make sure that every single train is on time.”

Hanson said NITA will allow people to go from Naperville to O’Hare on one train, with the possibility of going from O’Hare to Fulton Market to McCormick Place – which wouldn’t have been possible before the new funding and capital plan.

Hanson said Illinois does not have the problems like the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority.

“They have no money. They got stiffed by their general assembly. The governor had to come out ... and provide them $221 million, a one-time capital funding to fix the falling apart tunnel, fix the train cars that are on fire, and they still don’t have any operational funding,” Hanson said. “We did all of those things and we don’t have any train cars on fire. We don’t have a tunnel falling apart. We made a capital commitment (for) every single year to make sure that never does happen.”

Hanson said NITA is a long-term promise to Illinois residents for the state to have a world-class transportation system.

Burns cited the historic event of President Theodore Roosevelt making a whistlestop at the Geneva train station on May 10, 1905.

“And while it is true that there’s no official or verifiable record of what the then-president said, I have on high authority that he said something like this: ‘Let there be a fully-funded transportation system to benefit Geneva and communities like Geneva, throughout the northeastern Illinois region so that we can be an always be the powerhouse and the engine for this nation,’” Burns said.

“So Teddy, thank you very much,” he said.

“Geneva’s growth is ... owed in great part to passenger train service,” Burns said. “Every day, residents take the Metra train from Geneva or the Pace Bus and cruise communities east of Geneva. And in Chicago, passengers take not only take Metra, but the elevated lines as well. The energy driven, individually and collectively, by people moving around the region is unmatched anywhere in the United States.”

Addressing NITA on behalf of all mayors throughout northeastern Illinois, Burns said: “I implore you, to please, unceasingly engage mayors throughout the region,” Burns said.

“We always have been and we always will be the singular, and most indispensable partner in helping cultivate and create a responsive regional transportation system that all 9 million people in northeastern Illinois can be proud of,” Burns said.

Dany Robles, legislative director for the Illinois Environmental Council, also spoke on behalf of the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition.

“We mean it when we say this bill is for all of Illinois,” Robles said. “Whether you live in Geneva or Joliet, Romeoville or Roselle, this legislation will benefit you.”

When his family first moved to the suburbs from Mexico, Robles said he was in culture shock when he saw that his new community did not have public transit options to move around like he did back home.

“As I entered college, I grew to appreciate the sophisticated system that the Chicago Transit Authority had, and I felt like I was back home,” Robles said.

And now with NITA, the suburbs can envision a future with more transit options for everyone, Robles said.

“The easier and safer and more reliable public transit is to use, the more we will ride it. And by fixing and funding public transit, we’re taking action on climate and mitigating air pollution,” Robles said. “This bill is truly a win across the board.”

The NITA Board will be made up of 20 directors, five each from Chicago, Cook County and the Governor’s office and one each from DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will counties, according to a news release.