The chairman of the Regional Transportation Authority lashed out at state politicians Monday for failing to work aggressively toward completing a capital spending plan for mass transit and repairing deteriorating roads.

"The state is in a very tough fiscal situation, and at some point somebody has to have the guts to fix it. And it hasn't happened yet," RTA Chairman Jim Reilly told the City Club of Chicago.

Reilly said he was not optimistic about approval of a new capital bill in the remaining weeks of the current legislative session or in the foreseeable future. The governor and state lawmakers have so far been unable to come to terms on the capital spending plan.

"As a citizen and as someone who has been involved in some of the largest public works projects in recent history in this area, I am really disturbed about the timid nature of the current debate about capital," Reilly said. "We say we're a world-class city, yet we in transit will be very lucky if we get enough money just to maintain what is basically a late 19th Century and early 20th Century system."

Reilly singled out Mayor Richard Daley as the only politician who has a vision for the future of transit.

The Chicago Transit Authority, Metra and Pace say they need at least $10 billion over the next five years to restore the existing transit system to a state of good repair and to begin modernization and expansion projects, such as the CTA's proposed Circle Line and Metra's STAR line.