Backers of the MMA plan say siloed agencies have long competed for funding, failed to integrate fares for passengers and aren’t delivering the service riders should be able to depend on.
CTA
Failing to tackle a looming $730 million budget hole for CTA, Metra and Pace could have “potentially debilitating” effects on disinvested Chicago area communities that rely on transit – but boosting funding for public transportation without drastic governance reform would be a major failure, a new report says.
“Changes are going to have to take place, there’s no doubt, at the CTA, and I think that’s going to take some new leadership and additional leadership,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said. The agency has been under scrutiny amid rider frustration, unkempt train cars and safety concerns.
The $3.6 billion Red Line Extension project will carry the Red Line 5.6 miles south from its current terminus at 95th Street down to 130th Street. Nearly $2 billion in funding is slated to come from the federal government.
More than a dozen people were injured, including at least three seriously, after a crash between a CTA bus and a van in Chatham Friday morning.
Illegally delayed responses are a chronic problem with the CTA’s FOIA office. Other news organizations and advocacy groups have also dinged the agency for its FOIA transparency failures. Despite not sending information on operator working hours as required, available information indicates the CTA continues to rely on overtime.
Students at the University of Illinois Chicago are conducting the survey as part of a capstone project, which focuses on getting rider feedback on the UIC Halsted Blue Line station, Roosevelt Red Line station and the Clark/Division Red Line station.
CTA President Dorval Carter said the transit agency plans to restore reduced bus and train service to pre-pandemic levels this year, including a 44% boost to bus service, with the process beginning in the coming weeks.
The program has connected dozens of people to housing or shelter, but officials say it needs more funding and time to make a bigger impact.
The first of two rounds of snow made for a snowy morning commute Friday, with a second round set to hit overnight into Saturday.
The trains are running at reduced speeds of 35 miles per hour “out of an abundance of caution,” officials said.
CTA has announced that it is partnering with Miller Lite to offer free rides, which will be available across the city on both trains and buses from 10 p.m. Sunday until 4 a.m. Monday.
With CTA, Metra and Pace expected to have a combined $730 million budget deficit starting in 2026, state lawmakers passed a measure charging the regional planning agency CMAP to think big and come up with a plan.
Attorneys from the Chicago-based Clifford Law Offices announced Wednesday they’ve filed two additional lawsuits against the CTA, which allege that the commuter train was operated negligently.
National Transportation Safety Board Chairperson Jennifer Homendy said the Chicago Transit Authority train was traveling at 26.9 mph on Thursday when it struck the snow-removal equipment, which was on the tracks conducting training for the winter season.
The NTSB will examine the condition of the track and the train, how people were protected inside the train, the operator’s training and work history, and the CTA’s safety culture, including how dispatch cleared the Yellow Line train.
