For years, Forest Park’s fire department has answered a growing number of ambulance calls at the CTA Blue Line terminal on Desplaines Avenue. The village estimates those runs have cost it nearly $1 million a year, before counting police time.
Mayor Hoskins lobbied to have the state share that cost. When Springfield passed its transit reform and funding bill in fall 2025, reimbursement for the village’s ambulance runs was included. The Forest Park Review’s editorial board called it “Hoskins’ transit win.”
It is money that stays with Forest Park’s firefighters and paramedics instead of coming out of local taxpayers’ pockets.