Investigations

CTA Bus and Train Operator Overtime Dropped in 2024 as Agency Increased Staffing Levels

The Chicago Transit Authority’s reliance on bus and train operator overtime dropped in 2024, a sign the agency’s hiring efforts have eased a once-massive staffing shortfall.

Data obtained by WTTW News shows the overall number of bus and train operators who worked for the CTA last year neared its pre-pandemic peak of employees. According to an analysis of operator data since 2015, the largest group of employees in each year worked an average of 30 to 40 hours per week. But that group is still significantly smaller than 2015, when 51.6% of operators fell into that category. Only 36% of operators did last year.

Overall, about 17% of operators worked an average of 40 or more hours a week in 2024, down from 19.3% in 2023.

While the share of employees working 40 to 50 hours a week was essentially unchanged from 2023 to 2024, the number of operators working 50 hours a week or more dropped to 91 in 2024, well below the peak of 165 in 2022.

Since those numbers are calculated by dividing employees’ total number of work hours for the year by 52 weeks, and the corrected dataset doesn’t include vacation or other time off the job, that means some actual workweeks were even longer.

CTA officials did not return a request for comment on the latest overtime and staffing numbers.

Data shows the CTA employed several hundred more bus operators in 2024, with hiring having been a key focus for the transit agency in recent years. As staffing has improved and the reliance on overtime has begun to wane, the agency’s hefty payouts to certain operators has also dropped. Still, with operators earning time and a half for overtime, many people who run buses and trains were paid well above the base yearly salary for their position last year.

CTA operator base salaries range from $64,147 to $85,508, with employees eligible for a range of upgrades and bonuses in addition to the extra OT pay. Data shows 769 operators earned more than $100,000 last year. Of those, 32 earned $150,000 or more, with three bus drivers topping $200,000.

The CTA’s use of overtime comes with health and safety concerns for workers in demanding jobs like bus and rail operators, and worries from employee advocates about burnout. Experts say long hours and short turnaround time can cause sleep deprivation and fatigue. Under current CTA rules, employees are only required to have eight hours off between shifts.

“CTA’s practice … does not give the employees the opportunity to receive enough uninterrupted sleep to be fully alert and operate safely,” the National Transportation Safety Board wrote in a report after a 2014 Blue Line crash in which the operator fell asleep at the controls.

While the CTA attempted to increase the turnaround time to 10 hours, the agency previously told WTTW News the unions representing bus and train operators rejected that plan.

The agency said in addition to eight hours between shifts, operators can’t work longer than five and a half hours without a 30-60 minute break, and said they must complete federally mandated sleep apnea and fatigue training.

“Every effort is made to provide a safe work and travel environment, while also offering opportunities to pursue additional income,” the CTA said.

The agency also noted that under the agreement with the unions representing bus and train workers, operators can’t work longer than 13 hours unless “requested by management in emergency circumstances and the employee does not exhibit signs of fatigue; or in instances in which the employee has completed their scheduled and/or OT shift, but must stay on CTA property for administrative purposes (i.e., meeting with management or filling out reports).”

Dorval Carter’s Pension

Separately, WTTW News obtained pension data for former CTA president Dorval Carter. Carter, who joined the agency in 1984 as a staff attorney, first retired from the CTA in November 2009 when he left for a second stint working for the Federal Transit Administration. At the time, he began collecting a $137,229 annual pension, or $11,435 a month.

When Carter returned to the CTA in 2015 to take over as president, his pension benefits were suspended. CTA data shows his total compensation for 2024 was more than $409,000.

His pension payouts restarted on Feb. 1, 2025, coinciding with his departure from the transit agency. Carter is now president and CEO of Saint Anthony Hospital on the West Side.

Jared Rutecki contributed to this story.

Contact Nick Blumberg: [email protected] | (773) 509-5434 | @ndblumberg

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