* Chicago Transit Authority President Dorval Carter Jr. has been repeatedly criticized for refusing to show up for city council meetings and to an Illinois Senate hearing in March. But he took the time for a brief Politico interview now that his future is uncertain. Notably absent from the questions was this topic…
Keep in mind that the CTA has reduced services and it still can’t keep up with that schedule.
* Also not addressed in the interview was cleanliness…
* Nor was this topic broached…
Embattled CTA President Dorval Carter has repeatedly vowed to fix a transit system Chicagoans have called unsafe, unsanitary and unreliable as ridership has fallen.
But Carter hardly used his work card for the system in 2021 and 2022, CTA records show. And the agency wouldnât say exactly how often its leader takes public transit.
* He was, however, asked about crime…
Q: Thereâs a lot of talk about crime on CTA, though Chicago Police data shows itâs down.
Carter: âWhen you’re in the news every day, or almost every day, for some criminal activity that happens on CTA, it creates a perception that itâs not safe. But the vast majority of customers who ride CTA every day experience a ride that is relatively drama free. … What makes you feel safe is seeing more security, seeing more police, seeing the type of activities that let you know that there are people who are watching out for you and they’re trying to keep you safe.â
There is definitely an overwhelming perception that the CTA is not safe. And performative security measures have some impact. But the private security guards don’t necessarily make people feel safe…
* From 2018…
If there is one issue which shows genuine friction between the motormen and CTA management, itâs the decision in the late nineties to eliminate conductors from the trains. The agency argued at the time, that in addition to cost savings, safety was actually increased, because the motormen became more engaged with full operation of the trains.
But the men and women who drive the trains note the elimination of the conductors led to an inescapable truth: on a train which can be longer than a football field, they are usually the only authority figure on board-one CTA employee for a thousand passengers.
The security issue has been a long time coming. And the CTA has flat-out refused to entertain the notion of trying to replicate the success of “transit ambassadors” in San Francisco and other cities.
* Back to the interview…
Q: How is CTA doing financially? When will it reach a fiscal cliff?
Carter: âWe’re not struggling financially because we have Covid relief money to fill our deficit every month as we calculate the gap between our expenses and our revenues. We believe that we will probably run out of money around 2026. But we still have a little bit of time, and that’s one reason why we’ve started our conversations with Springfield around funding and changes to the funding system for transit in the region.â
More reliable, cleaner and safer service is gonna have to happen before they can convince legislators to shell out more money.
Also, the General Assembly has put the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning in charge of a “Plan of Action for Regional Transit (PART) with recommendations that can help the region invest in a stronger and more financially secure transit system.” The CTA only reluctantly accepted the idea and is expected to try and water down the final report, which is due in January.
* From a legislator involved with transit issues…
They are going to be asking the state to help with their deficit to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars in 2026.
That conversation won’t go well if they don’t eliminate transit barriers, go to zero emissions, create safer transit, invest their capital projects equitably, etc.
More to come.
- Dan Johnson - Wednesday, May 17, 23 @ 11:46 am:
It would also be helpful if the CTA finally signed on to President Preckwinkle’s initiative for reasonable fares and mobility in South Cook on the Metra by accepting transfers from Metra riders on the Rock Island and Electric.
- Distant Viewer - Wednesday, May 17, 23 @ 11:46 am:
I’m curious how many of the 52% of Blue Line trains that didn’t run were Forest Park trains vs. UIC turnaround trains.
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, May 17, 23 @ 11:52 am:
===Iâm curious how many===
The data is from here: https://brandonmcfadden.com/cta-reliability
- phocion - Wednesday, May 17, 23 @ 11:52 am:
Can’t see a path for Dorval Carter to keep his job. Will be an interesting early test for the incoming administration.
- Dan Johnson - Wednesday, May 17, 23 @ 11:55 am:
Forgot the link to the Cook County initiative:
https://www.cookcountyil.gov/service/fair-transit-south-cook
Metra transfers to CTA/Pace is low-hanging fruit for improving mobility and CTA has been the holdout for dumb turf reasons. Hopefully that will change this year.
- DS - Wednesday, May 17, 23 @ 11:58 am:
I’m a daily L commuter. There are multiple cigarette smokers on every single red line train on the south side at any time of day. I call and I ca all and it never improves. It’s unacceptable.
- vern - Wednesday, May 17, 23 @ 12:06 pm:
At least we’ll know when his next birthday is, I guess.
- Friendly Bob Adams - Wednesday, May 17, 23 @ 12:21 pm:
The CTA was one of the best things about living in Chicago. Sorry to see it slide so far downhill.
- Three Dimensional Checkers - Wednesday, May 17, 23 @ 12:24 pm:
Toronto has an app to report issues on its transit system. It seems like a good idea for CTA.
- Suburbanon - Wednesday, May 17, 23 @ 12:28 pm:
I used to ride the CTA day and night, without fear. Not anymore. I don’t care if the statistics say crime hasn’t increased. It definitely feels worse these days.
P.S. You would think that the Blue line which serves O’Hare would have one of the highest reliability scores, instead of the worst. At least the Orange line is 99% reliable to Midway.
- Gravitas - Wednesday, May 17, 23 @ 12:36 pm:
As an occasional commuter, it is quite obvious that the CTA is in need of new leadership. It is no longer reliable or safe. Others have commented upon the increase in crimes on public transportation, but as the original post and the other comments demonstrate basis punctuality is becoming a major problem as well. Carter needs to go.
- Original Rambler - Wednesday, May 17, 23 @ 12:38 pm:
Man oh man, this post really touches on a lot of valid complaints. Condition of el cars including the unhoused using them as sleeping quarters from ORD during rush hour. That and the smokers is not going to get commuters or other users back on the blue line. A solid point about the private security. They just pack together in one car and talk or text their friends. Never see them move car to car to check on the whole train. I’ve never seen them take any sort of affirmative action. Why isn’t there a number riders can text to when they spot something that needs attention? I’d be willing to pay more to bring conductors back. Ghost buses as well as stacked buses. Carter can blame the pandemic but he has been a disaster as the head of the CTA. His successor is going to have maybe the toughest job (after police chief) in the city.
- Soccermom - Wednesday, May 17, 23 @ 12:40 pm:
“They are going to be asking the state to help with their deficit to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars in 2026. That conversation wonât go well if they donât eliminate transit barriers, go to zero emissions, create safer transit, invest their capital projects equitably, etc.”
This seems kind of circular. I agree with all of these things, but I don’t see how CTA can do them without more money.”
That’s the reason I’m not keen on transit ambassadors. I think they’d be great, but we need clean, reliable trains before we start spending money on more personnel.
- ChicagoBars - Wednesday, May 17, 23 @ 12:45 pm:
As to the conductor issue? I have personal experience with the CTA telling you âHit the red button and tell the conductorâ when running into obvious mental health or unconscious individuals on trains. This predated the pandemic issues. I donât think motormen have ANY training in handling those issues and I donât think even CPD sends solo officers to mental health calls.
Investing in even some trained conductors to assist motormen instead of throwing it away on the current security contractors who just stand on platforms & watch their phones would be a good investment.
Commenting live from CTA train car 5665 whichâŚwait for itâŚis halfway full (good) and reeks of urine (bad).
- JP Altgeld - Wednesday, May 17, 23 @ 12:46 pm:
Very wise decision, from a budgetary perspective, to run the trains and buses at full strength for the entirety of Covid, even when people were not allowed to leave their homes. Really odd to me that the CTA is now broke.
- Linus - Wednesday, May 17, 23 @ 12:46 pm:
=The CTA was one of the best things about living in Chicago. Sorry to see it slide so far downhill.=
Agreed. I was a daily L commuter for over two decades. At first, I loved trading my frustrating drive for a less frustrating train ride. But things have most definitely slid downhill of late, particularly in cleanliness and safety. Every commute involved clouds of cigarette and marijuana smoke. And this city boy is with Suburbananon: regardless of what the stats say, my own experience was a steady uptick in dangerous encounters. A friend of mine was mugged twice on trains, another was robbed outside an L station, and I personally witnessed plenty of threatening encounters on L cars, all of it increasing in recent years.
- Distant Viewer - Wednesday, May 17, 23 @ 12:49 pm:
Sadly the site doesn’t separate out UIC v Forest Park nor does it separate by direction of train for completed trips.
- 47th Ward - Wednesday, May 17, 23 @ 12:50 pm:
I took a colleague from out of town on her first red line trip yesterday. She was surprised that smoking was allowed on the train. She also noted the strong smell of urine in the subway. I pointed out a group of paid security people standing together on the platform ten feet away from a customer openly smoking pot. They couldnât be bothered to do anything about it.
I donât think my friend will be giving up her car in exchange for a Ventra pass anytime soon. The CTA is so bad right now and only getting worse.
- annoning - Wednesday, May 17, 23 @ 12:56 pm:
I think what people can’t grasp is that transit ambassadors will make trains more safe and more clean, as well as being a first point of contact for people with mental health crises or just another body to assist the person driving the train. As a daily rider (not just a suburbanite taking the red line for a cubs game), I can attest that the new security is doing nothing, and even though I love seeing sleepy K9s on the subway platform, it does nothing to address the public order issues that most people complain about (smoking/drinking/drug use/garbage on the train) and conflate with actual public safety issues. It would make more sense to regularly station CPD officers at certain L stops for quick response instead of wasting money on security and live-feed cameras on platforms and have civilian response to all of the non-law enforcement needs of riders.
For everything else, just run more trains. If we need to experiment with automated trains and platform screen doors for subway stations, let’s try it. It works super well in Paris and other major cities
- Mark - Wednesday, May 17, 23 @ 1:00 pm:
I don’t ride the CTA daily now that I work from home, but my recent experiences have been hit-or-miss. The Brown line is unfailingly clean and quiet (yet unreliable, schedule-wise). The Red line is, more often than not, a bit of a s&*#show. On a recent trip to the loop with my 4yo daughter in tow, a guy was harassing and groping a woman until he was forcibly removed from the train by a good samaritan (with an assist from the conductor). The occasional problematic (or outright dangerous) episode on the Red line far predates COVID and Carter’s tenure, but the frequency has undoubtedly increased of late and his aloof-to-negligent leadership is simply infuriating.
- Regular democrat - Wednesday, May 17, 23 @ 1:05 pm:
If Mr Carter thinks that softball interview is going to save his job then he delusional. Its frustrating that he can sit for that interview and has the stones to blow off city council . Another huge failure by lightfoot was keeping this guy around
- Henry Francis - Wednesday, May 17, 23 @ 1:05 pm:
I have 2 thoughts.
1. The CEO of the CTA should use the CTA to commute to work. Daily.
2. These issues with the CTA are so broad, they touch upon key matters for the city as a whole. Infrastructure. Crime/Personal safety. Homelessness. Employment/business. I hope the new mayor, with his holistic view at addressing problems develops some new (and good) ideas.
- Ivory-billed woodpecker - Wednesday, May 17, 23 @ 1:10 pm:
Another vote for letting CTA riders report issues through their phones real time. Build the function into the Ventra app - which most passengers already have installed. Then whoever receives the message can quickly know the identity and location of the sender.
- Jerry - Wednesday, May 17, 23 @ 1:19 pm:
The political will to bring back conductors was probably there after 9/11.
- Gravitas - Wednesday, May 17, 23 @ 1:21 pm:
I used to enjoy reading the newspapers on the el train. Now, I would consider that minor distraction to be risky as it could possibly make me an easy target for thieves.
Bring back the train conductors. It is too much to ask the operator to police the entire train alone.
- Sox Fan - Wednesday, May 17, 23 @ 1:28 pm:
I might be in the minority, but I’ve sort of noticed red line behavior improving during rush hour as people slowly return to the office. The rest of the day/night is still frustrating.
It’s a chicken/egg thing, but the CTA has to find a way to get more people riding
- JP Altgeld - Wednesday, May 17, 23 @ 1:30 pm:
The best security on public transit: more riders.
- Biker - Wednesday, May 17, 23 @ 1:43 pm:
President Carter has not acknowledged the problems of the system at all. This is last minute panic.
- Big Dipper - Wednesday, May 17, 23 @ 2:48 pm:
== I pointed out a group of paid security people standing together on the platform ten feet away from a customer openly smoking pot. They couldnât be bothered to do anything about it.==
Recently a tourist complained on reddit that he was given a $300 ticket for bringing a beer past the turnstile. So it seems like it’s either no enforcement of overkill. That should be a $50 ticket at most.
- Big Dipper - Wednesday, May 17, 23 @ 2:48 pm:
Or overkill.
- We've never had one before - Wednesday, May 17, 23 @ 2:52 pm:
>>>>The best security on public transit: more riders.
Allow the riders to carry their licensed firearms. Then at least it won’t be a canned hunt.
- Soccermom - Wednesday, May 17, 23 @ 3:08 pm:
We’ve never….
What could POSSIBLY go wrong?
- low level - Wednesday, May 17, 23 @ 6:01 pm:
The rent a cops have always been a total waste on the CTA.
- MattMan - Thursday, May 18, 23 @ 11:44 am:
The transit system in St. Louis is no where close to perfect, but maybe Chicago could learn a couple things:
In April 2018, we partnered with Noonlight, a personal safety mobile application, to give customers the ability to request assistance from law enforcement with just a touch of a button â even if they are in a position where they are unable to speak or text.
In July 2018, we launched a text messaging service that allows customers to quickly and discreetly contact Metro Public Safety â 24 hours a day, 7 days a week â at 314-300-0188.