* Press release…
Today, Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) President Dorval R. Carter, Jr. announced that he will retire from leadership of the nation’s third-largest public transit agency, effective Friday, January 31, 2025. Carter’s retirement ends a 40-year career in public transportation that has included nearly 10 years as CTA president.
“The City of Chicago is grateful to President Dorval Carter for his decades of service with the Chicago Transit Authority,” said Mayor Brandon Johnson. “His leadership reimagined the movement of our city. His stewardship of the Red Line Extension project is just one of the notable achievements in his historic career.”
* Tribune…
His retirement comes as a debate brews in Springfield about whether to combine the CTA with Metra, Pace and the Regional Transportation Authority, and how to fund transit amid a $771 million budget gap looming when federal COVID-19 relief funding runs out. Some lawmakers have pushed for addressing transit oversight and leadership before tackling the funding cliff, which could hit as soon as next year.
Carter’s departure also followed a pointed endorsement from Mayor Brandon Johnson last week, with the two of them shrugging off the threat of a potential showdown with state leaders over the future of the transit agency during a news conference announcing the final chunk of federal funding for the Red Line extension to 130th Street.
The announcement also doubled as an endorsement of Carter’s job performance, with the mayor sending a blunt message to members of the Illinois General Assembly who were mulling tying a bailout of the CTA’s finances to changes in transit leadership: “Any attempt to hold hostage the people of Chicago for anyone’s political gain, we’re certainly not going to acquiesce to those levels of constraints.”
This post will likely be updated.
But it’s kinda ridic for the mayor to threaten war with the General Assembly over the embattled Carter just a few days ago when he was gonna quit today.
…Adding… Block Club Chicago…
“Today marks a historic and long overdue change at the Chicago Transit Authority,” a spokesperson for advocacy group Commuters Take Action said in a Thursday statement. “Commuters Take Action sees a new hope for Chicago transit. Change will not happen overnight, but we are ready to see a transit agency that delivers frequent and reliable service.
“We also hope the next president works with organizations like ours and engages with the communities they serve, especially by riding the CTA regularly.”
…Adding… One of the legislators working on transit reform…
* Sun-Times…
Ald. Daniel LaSpata (1st), chair of the Council’s Transportation Committee, called Carter’s resignation a “pivot point for the CTA on a lot of levels.”
LaSpata said he was “personally excited for fresh leadership” at the mass transit agency after a decade-long Carter era that “fell short on accessibility and vision,” among other things.
“A lot has been made of the racial politics of this. For my constituents, that was never what it was about. It was about the reliability of service, expansion of service, engagement with bus rapid transit, engagement with the media and social media,” LaSpata said.
“I don’t know why that was so challenging for President Carter. But this is news that will be broadly and positively received by my constituents.”
For all of his strength as a former federal bureaucrat whose contacts helped him deliver $1.9 billion for the Red Line extension, LaSpata said Carter will be best remembered by his transit-dependent constituents as “inaccessible” and for being “unwilling to listen and take seriously concerns people were bringing up.”
…Adding… Sen. Villivalam…
State Senator Ram Villivalam (D-Chicago) released a statement following the announcement of Chicago Transit Authority President Dorval Carter’s retirement:
“I would like to thank President Carter for his years of public service and I wish him the best in his retirement.
I look forward to continuing to work with the City of Chicago, the Chicago Transit Authority and all stakeholders to ensure our region has a safe, reliable and accessible world class public transit system that is accountable to our taxpayers, commuters and all of our residents.”
