* Block Club Chicago has a very good story about the death of a Chicago Transit Authority bus driver and the fact that it took the CTA an hour to figure out that she’d gone missing…
Antia Lyons, a 14-year driver for the United States’ third-largest transit agency, had suffered a medical emergency while she sat behind the wheel at the start of her bus route. The 63-year-old was later pronounced dead from complications with her heart.
A Block Club Chicago investigation into the circumstances around Lyons’ death raises questions about the safety of CTA drivers as the agency is touting improved working conditions in an attempt to bolster its staff.
Block Club’s reporting found Lyons sat in her bus unconscious for nearly an hour before someone eventually sought help. CTA supervisors neglected to check on her even though the bus never moved and subsequently failed to arrive at more than 50 scheduled stops.
The CTA failed to report the incident to the Illinois Occupational Safety and Health Administration despite a state law requiring it. The CTA wouldn’t explain why or answer Block Club’s questions about this incident, saying it was limited by privacy concerns. […]
The CTA also left information of the incident out of public records. For example, the agency provided Block Club with data showing CTA employees who were injured or died on duty over the past six years — but Lyons’ death was not included.
Kilgannon said the data didn’t include Lyons’ death because it didn’t meet the federal definition of “Major Incidents.”
The agency didn’t answer questions about whether it collected data on employee fatalities or injuries that happened due to medical emergencies on the job.
Lyons was also left out of records the CTA provided showing employees with a pension plan who have died in the past five years.
Go read the rest.
* Meanwhile, here’s another CTA story from Block Club Chicago…
The CTA’s new rail schedule aims to combat service issues reported by riders across the city — but it doesn’t add trains.
The new “dynamic” rail schedule for the spring and summer went into effect last week with a promise of “gradually increasing” service through the seasons as the agency looks to bring on more rail operators, according to a news release.
The CTA began adding some pre-pandemic bus runs back to its schedule last month, but its new train schedule shows no significant additions, transit advocates and a train operator said. […]
Yonah Freemark, a research director studying transit systems at D.C.-based think tank Urban Institute, said the CTA’s pandemic recovery still trails behind its counterparts in other major U.S. cities, which have increased staff and in some cases expanded rail service. […]
Data shows the CTA’s hiring efforts are being offset by rail operators who choose to quit or transfer to other departments within the agency. One rail operator told Block Club they’re interested in a less demanding role as a supervisor or as a switch or control tower worker.
* And here’s something you may not know…
If Mayor Johnson won’t act, then Gov. Pritzker needs to step up.
…Adding… It’s not quite half. He appoints three of seven members. Still.