The Chicago Transit Authority’s acting president said a long-elusive goal is in sight, telling board members that ridership on the agency’s buses has reached 90% of its pre-COVID levels.

Plans to extend the CTA Red Line to the Far South Side of Chicago are finally on track. The Red Line extension project broke ground last month, after decades of planning and months of federal funding uncertainty.

The Red Line extension will extend the rail line by more than five miles, starting where the Red Line currently ends, at 95th Street, through 130th Street. Four new, accessible stations will be built at 103rd Street, 111th Street, Michigan Avenue and 130th Street.

Advocates said the measure and a new Chicago-area leadership board created by it will reimagine the role public transportation plays in the state’s economy and people’s lives.

The frequent service network consists of 20 key bus routes throughout the agency’s service area that are scheduled to have service every 10 minutes or less from 6 a.m.-9 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m.-9 p.m. on weekends, according to the CTA.

Chicago Transit Board members on Wednesday acknowledged there’s work to be done to ensure trains and buses are as safe as possible, but took aim at a blistering letter sent earlier this week claiming the CTA has failed in its public safety mission.

At 130 years old, the Chicago Transit Authority's State/Lake Loop elevated station has had a good run, but that run is ending in January.

The 2026 budget makes permanent the regional day pass allowing a single, discounted 24-hour fare across CTA, Metra and Pace, as well as a program allowing paratransit users to ride for free on fixed routes.

State lawmakers approved new funding for public transportation agencies without large statewide tax increases previously proposed.

No elevated trains will run in the Loop from 4 a.m. Saturday through 2 a.m. Monday due to track maintenance.

Chicago-area public transit agencies are facing a fiscal cliff. The budget gap for CTA, Metra and Pace is at $200 million, according to the Regional Transportation Authority.

Local organizers who have been working on the project for more than 30 years said the Red Line extension is essential for those who live in “transportation deserts” on the Far South Side of the city.

The reconstruction of the four Red Line stations includes new track, support structures, bridges and viaducts built along the section between the Lawrence and Bryn Mawr stations, which were more than a century old.

Newly exposed tracks and rail ties, excavated during construction, were part of what was once one of the world’s largest streetcar systems.

The events are designed for CTA leaders and staff to have open, informal conversations with riders about service, safety, improvements and rider priorities, according to the transit agency.

The Chicago Transit Authority board of directors saw a highly unusual heated exchange at its monthly meeting, with Ald. David Moore (17th Ward) warning directors not to be a “backbiting snake” and oppose Mayor Brandon Johnson’s reported pick for the transit agency president.