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CTA would need to increase ridership by 50+ percent to meet Carter’s 2024 goal

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In a statement, [CTA chief Dorval Carter] said he expected all bus and rail service to reach pre-pandemic levels by the end of the year.

Gonna be a tough hill to climb in the second half of the year…

But CTA ridership is a fraction of what it was before the pandemic. The CTA recorded an average of 912,749 weekday riders in March, compared with more than 1.4 million in 2019. That’s about 62% of pre-pandemic ridership.

* Meanwhile, the CTA helped pay for a study with a sophomore dorm premise…

Public transportation is so important, researchers found, that taking it away would result in the cancellation of two million daily activities and the annual loss of $35 billion in direct economic activity. Jobs would be lost, businesses would close, the cost of living would increase, and peoples’ health would be negatively impacted.

The South and West sides would be hardest hit. Women and those with lower incomes would be negatively affected too.

And without public transit, more people would buy cars, each of which cost $10,000 a year in maintenance. Along with more traffic, the increased emissions would create an uptick in particulate matter that can contribute to respiratory disease, heart attacks and strokes.

Literally nobody in power is talking about doing away with public transportation.

C’mon.

A far more useful study would be the impact of CTA’s current reduced service levels on the region’s economy.

* Carter told his board last month that the study, and not governance reforms, will be central to the CTA’s push for more state funding…

CTA President Dorval Carter said the agency will use the [MIT and Argonne National Laboratory] report as “a major foundational point for our overall advocacy of the transit system,” an effort to get Springfield lawmakers to address the fiscal cliff facing transit when billions in federal COVID-19 relief funding runs dry.

But Carter didn’t address another huge measure introduced in the General Assembly last week that would see CTA, Metra and Pace merged into a single transit agency replacing the current Regional Transportation Authority. […]

While board chair Lester Barclay and one public commenter briefly mentioned the proposed governance reforms, Carter kept mum on the issue and focused his comments on funding and the MIT/Argonne report.

“We’ll be incorporating this into our broader strategy down in Springfield as we continue the conversation around the fiscal cliff,” he said.

The CTA appears to be using the same strategists as the Bears.

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Jun 12, 24 @ 12:36 pm

Comments

Maybe Dorval Carter isn’t much of a math guy. That could explain why he thinks the wait times for buses and trains in his transit agency are fine.

Comment by Roadrager Wednesday, Jun 12, 24 @ 12:44 pm
“cost $10,000 a year in maintenance.”

Who spends $10,000 every year on vehicle maintenance? Even when I’ve replaced an engine or transmission, I didn’t spend that much in one year let alone every year. I drive older used vehicles and spend less than $1,000 a year for maintenance on average. Did the researchers just make up this number?

Comment by Steve Polite Wednesday, Jun 12, 24 @ 1:01 pm
Merger unlikely to save much…how about that reflects regional needs of post pandemic era?

Comment by Annonin' Wednesday, Jun 12, 24 @ 1:06 pm
Steve Polite - its pretty well documented that annual cost of car ownership is upwards of $10,000 on average. This is not maintenance but overall cost of ownership (car payments, maintenance, insurance, etc.).

https://newsroom.aaa.com/2022/08/annual-cost-of-new-car-ownership-crosses-10k-mark/

Comment by James Cooper Wednesday, Jun 12, 24 @ 1:34 pm
The Economist calls the CTA “dysfunctional.” And places the blame squarely on the Mayor.

https://www.economist.com/united-states/2024/06/09/brandon-johnson-chicagos-leftist-mayor-is-struggling

Comment by 47th Ward Wednesday, Jun 12, 24 @ 1:50 pm
===The Economist calls===

Literally nobody needs the Economist’s validation on this topic. lol

Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Jun 12, 24 @ 2:01 pm
True, but it’s nice to know it’s part of the international reputation Chicago enjoys. Gotta be great for tourism and investment.

Comment by 47th Ward Wednesday, Jun 12, 24 @ 2:03 pm
I wonder if CTA service is about 62% of pre-pandemic levels (mas o menos).

Comment by Dan Johnson Wednesday, Jun 12, 24 @ 2:10 pm
Just another day in Dorval Carter CTA fantasyland.

Comment by Lynn Becker Wednesday, Jun 12, 24 @ 3:10 pm
47th Ward - Always encouraging to see a major international publication use this as an article subhead about our Mayor: “Incompetence rather than ideology is what’s hurting him”

Comment by Just a guy Wednesday, Jun 12, 24 @ 3:13 pm
===“Incompetence rather than ideology is what’s hurting him”===

Exactly right, but as Rich said, we sort of knew that already. But now the rest of the English speaking world knows it too.

Comment by 47th Ward Wednesday, Jun 12, 24 @ 3:26 pm
“cost $10,000 year in maintenance” is just poor reporting on a real issue: the cost of gas + insurance + maintenance + lease amortization. The figure of $10k/year is pretty standard, albeit higher than I pay.

Comment by Ben Tre Wednesday, Jun 12, 24 @ 3:28 pm
This guy baffles me. He should have been canned when he refused to comply with requests to meet with the City Council. Anyway, this summer will be interesting. They could see significant jumps because of stuff like NASCAR and the DNC. International visitors use public transit a lot too.Also there is a change in patterns that I even notice. I sometimes have a red line car to myself on Monday mornings, but it is packed all-day on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. But train frequency has not been adjusted. They are safer though and you can see there are a few more buses. Make them safe, adjust to rider patterns. That shouldn’t be that hard. Bring back Ron Huberman for 3 months. He got stuff done.

Comment by levivotedforjudy Wednesday, Jun 12, 24 @ 4:40 pm
A huge issue with the CTA is that it doesn’t have the density along its corridors that are needed to support a rapid transit line like other cities (Toronto e.g.). Chicago needs to allow for more density and transit-oriented development along all the CTA rail corridors to help keep the CTA viable. All those corridors should be rezoned for multi-family development automatically.

Comment by Incandenza Thursday, Jun 13, 24 @ 11:32 am