CTA

"If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice."

By now you know the drill. The CTA announces that it's significantly increasing scheduled bus and/or train service in an effort to restore or surpass 2019 pre-COVID service levels. Streetsblog later asks the transit data whizzes at the grassroots transit advocacy group Commuters Take Action (CTAction) for their POV on the claim.

CTA Vice President of Security Kevin Ryan said that the artificial intelligence-assisted security cameras the transit agency started to pilot last August led to six arrests, including for a robbery in progress. 

Earlier this month, the CTA announced it was launching a "Frequent Network for Buses," with runs scheduled to show up every 10 minutes or less, all day, seven days a week. The plan called for providing shorter headways (waits between runs) on 20 high-ridership bus lines by the end of 2025, with upgrades to four more routes each quarter.

Last Monday, St. Patrick's Day, it appeared there may be a bit of good luck for Chicagoland straphangers.

As Streetsblog readers are well aware, the CTA, Metra, and Pace currently face a combined $770 million budget gap next year as federal COVID-era subsidies run out, but ridership is currently still only around 65 percent of 2019 levels.

The CTA recently announced it's launching a "Frequent Network" with ten-minute or shorter headways all day, seven days a week. The initiative includes 20 high-ridership bus lines citywide dubbed "Frequent Routes," starting with eight lines mostly located on the South Side. Some transit advocates say they're excited about the new initiatives, and have their fingers crossed that the increased service will be dependable, and free from the much-loathed "bus bunching" phenomenon.

Last month, the grassroots transit advocacy group Commuters Take Action held a retirement party for controversial CTA President Dorval Carter Jr. While he did go out on a high note by securing $1.9 billion from the feds for the $5.7 Red Line Extension, he was highly unpopular with many riders due to the system's issues with unreliable service, crime, and sanitation. So the celebration was a tongue-in-cheek affair, and needless to say, the guest of honor was a no-show.

At yesterday's CTA board meeting, new acting transit agency president Nora Leerhsen discussed issues she will prioritize in order to improve conditions on trains and increase ridership. These include addressing the problem of smoking on trains, and helping unhoused people who spend the night on the Red and Blue lines get access to shelters.