The Regional Transportation Board has warned the area's transit systems to prepare for the worst.

Without more money from the Illinois General Assembly by July 1, the Chicago Transit Authority, Metra and Pace will have to figure out how to make up a budget shortfall, the Regional Transportation Authority said Thursday.

The fallout could mean fare increases, service changes and staff cuts.

"We can and will make improvements to the way we operate," RTA Executive Director Stephen Schlickman said. "But doing so does not address the critical funding shortfall we face this year and in the coming years."

Last December, the RTA approved its 2007 budget with a $226 million shortfall.

Rising fuel costs, retiree health care benefits and security costs have all contributed to operating expenses that have risen faster than the rate of inflation.

The RTA said it can provide money for existing services until June 30, but that grace period is coming to an end.

"Absent a new funding proposal provided by the General Assembly, we knew at some point that we would have to implement drastic changes," Schlickman said.

The RTA is requesting an immediate infusion of $400 million from the state that would maintain existing service and an additional $2 billion a year to invest in capital improvements.

So far, state lawmakers don't seem to be responding.

One Springfield lawmaker said transit gets lost in the shuffle when stacked against issues such as education, health care and pensions.

State Rep. Julie Hamos, D-Evanston, has been pushing for legislators to do something about reforming transit.

Hamos, chair of the legislature's Mass Transit Committee, is the sponsor of House Bill 1841, which would give greater authority to the RTA to coordinate regional transit, including creating a unified fare structure and the power to conduct financial audits of individual service boards.

These reforms, Hamos said, should go hand in hand with any forthcoming funding.

"We want to provide funding to restore the system and to maintain and expand it," Hamos said, "but we also want a more accountable regional transit system."

Schlickman has asked the individual service agencies in the meantime to prepare a plan that outlines their operations if the funding doesn't come through.

"We remain encouraged by the support we have received but we cannot simply hope that the needed funds will be found," he said.

According to Metra spokeswoman Meg Reile, the agency prepared its 2007 budget with precisely this scenario in mind. The agency could use a portion of its federal capital funding to cover its preventive maintenance costs.