Commuters Take Action

On Halloween, a Crain's editorial did a fine job of summing up the stressful, but ultimately successful, legislative process that led to the Illinois General Assembly passing a robust transit reform/funding bill earlier that morning. "A long night yields long-overdue action on transit" is definitely the best op-ed I've seen on the topic in the mainstream press since last Friday.

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.

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.

On January 13, the CTA announced that the agency's embattled President Dorval R. Carter was stepping down after more than a decade on the job. As Streetsblog discussed that day, elected officials and transit advocates had major problems with the way he ran the system, especially during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. They cited major problems with reliability, crime, and cleanliness. As early as last April, everyone from the grassroots group Commuters Take Action to Governor JB Pritzker was calling for new leadership at the agency.

It was a bombshell, but not a huge surprise, when the CTA announced this morning that President Dorval R. Carter Jr. is stepping down from his post at the end of this month.

Note: In what's sure to be a refreshing change of pace for Streetsblog Chicago readers, I have committed to not making any '80s pop music references in this article about a CTA service announcement.

Some local transit advocates are worried that the agency may be over-promising how much service it can deliver.

The grassroots transit advocacy group says there's no point in advertising more service on the new timetables when the CTA isn't actually providing it.

The Active Transportation Alliance, Commuters Take Action, and Equiticity weigh in on the proposed legislation.