CTA President discusses personnel, reliability and safety issues with Chicago Committee

CHICAGO — Chiefs of the Chicago Transit Authority held a lengthy meeting at City Hall Thursday to address issues and concerns about bus and rail services across the city.

The Transportation Committee met with CTA President Dorval Carter and spent several hours questioning him about issues such as service reliability and safety, which continue to be of great concern to many riders.

“I used to ride the trains quite a lot, but now I don’t really ride the train,” said Susan Massio. “Because there’s too much going on.”

Committee members took a dig at Carter, raising concerns about hiring, staff morale, bus and rail service reliability issues and rider safety.

Frustration was also directed at Carter himself for not attending regular meetings amid the dire state of the city’s transportation system.

Earlier this year, Carter unveiled the “Meet the Moment” action plan to improve service.

Services provided have increased more than 5% since August, but Carter acknowledged there is still a long way to go, noting that part of the challenge is employee retention.

During the meeting, Carter outlined plans to increase the number of CTA employees in hopes of improving customer service reliability.

“We’re hiring at the same level we were before the pandemic, so we’re bringing in about a hundred people a month,” Carter said. “The problem is I have to stop the bleeding on the other side.”

Several old-timers are also questioning the CTA’s nearly $70 million investment in security guards and K9s.

“What I can’t tell you, I can’t prove a negative,” Carter said. “I can’t tell you what didn’t happen because we had a security guard.”

Several City Council members want to improve communication with the CTA through more consistent meetings.

Carter expressed a desire to improve communication with city officials to better serve riders in the city.