[dearolddad]

Metra served 77 million passengers in 2008, with ridership increasing an average of 1 percent per year since 2000. Its busiest line, the BNSF line between Aurora and Chicago, carries an average of 63,200 passengers each weekday.

How much of Metra's operating expenses were subsidized by tax payers?

[GonzoGOP]

How much of Metra's operating expenses were subsidized by tax payers?

This is all I could find quickly. It is from the 2008-2009 budget.
The RTA sales tax is 1.25% in Cook County, and 0.75% in the collar counties. One-third of the sales tax collected in the collar counties (i.e. 0.25%) is distributed directly to the counties and the county boards may use that money for transportation or public safety purposes.

A new distribution of revenues is prescribed, essentially leaving the distribution of the sales taxes collected at the old rates as is (by references to "85% of 80% of the receipts from those taxes collected within the City of Chicago" and the like) and then, after certain funds described below are set aside, the remainder is allocated 48% to CTA, 39% to Metra and 13% to Pace.

Of course you need a lot of money when your CEO is forging signatures of the board of directors and embezzling something around half a million dollars. We will never know how much he took because before he could testify he stepped in front of a METRA train and got splattered all over the roadbed. Funny how often that happens in Chicago.