The Chicago Transit Authority board of directors approved a combined daily pass allowing seamless trips across CTA, Metra and Pace. The proposal calls for daily passes ranging from $10-16 depending on how far passengers are traveling.
CTA
Chicago Transit Authority President Dorval Carter took the fight to foes of his leadership – including the 29 alderpeople who signed on to a resolution calling for him to be replaced – at a lengthy City Council hearing on Thursday.
The Rev. Ira Acree, who was selected by Mayor Brandon Johnson to serve on the board, announced Friday he is no longer seeking that seat due to aldermanic resistance that began after he faced pointed questions during his confirmation hearing earlier this month.
Allies of the mayor used a parliamentary maneuver Wednesday to prevent a vote on the nomination of the Rev. Ira Acree to serve on the board of the Regional Transportation Authority, an acknowledgment they did not have the votes to confirm the politically connected pastor.
The Rev. Ira Acree, the politically connected pastor of the Greater St. John Baptist Church on the West Side, faced unusually pointed questions from alderpeople, who are under increasing pressure to make significant changes to the CTA, which has yet to rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic.
CTA President Dorval Carter said the agency will use the report as “a major foundational point for our overall advocacy of the transit system,” an effort to get Springfield lawmakers to address the fiscal cliff facing transit when billions in federal COVID-19 relief funding runs dry.
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.
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.