(Chicago Tribune) — The Chicago Transit Authority will hold the line on fare hikes through the rest of the year, but a dismal budget outlook prevents making any promises about 2012, CTA President Forrest Claypool said Wednesday.  A more than five-month backlog in state subsidies totaling at least $102.7 million still owed to the CTA has deepened the transit agency’s financial crisis, Claypool said.  ”We’re not going to raise fares this year, despite the state’s (non-payment) situation,” Claypool said after the CTA’s monthly board meeting.  But he said the CTA is “now going to feel the pain because the RTA cannot shelter us any longer.”

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