Earlier this month, Mayor Brandon Johnson announced a near-complete overhaul of the Chicago Board of Education, replacing nearly all of its members with nonprofit leaders, educators and grassroots organizers focused on improving public education. Johnson’s next focus should be the CTA board.
It’s no secret that the last few years have been tough for the CTA. The agency has faced historic challenges: the pandemic, staffing shortages and a looming funding cliff. But CTA leaders and riders have also found themselves in a frustrating catch-22 — ridership hasn’t returned to pre-pandemic levels, but neither has service. Buses and trains are inconsistent and unreliable, and CTA leaders like President Dorval Carter Jr. dodge accountability and fudge numbers to try to make the CTA seem better than it actually is.
Staffing shortages continue to plague the system, making it difficult for the CTA to run its already-reduced train schedules. On the Purple Line, the line with the worst reliability, it’s typical for only around 60% of scheduled trains to run on any given day.
Carter isn’t the only leader responsible for the state of the CTA. The system is also overseen by a board of directors appointed by the mayor and the governor. But is the CTA board doing its job? We don’t think so.
At meetings, the board consistently praises Carter’s performance and rarely offers any criticism or challenges. Instead of addressing reliability and staffing concerns in December 2021, the board gave Carter a 33% salary raise and called him a “rock star.”
At the same meeting, board Chair Lester Barclay noted, “It is important to remember that CTA was the only major U.S. transit agency to not cut scheduled service.” This was not true at the time, and the CTA has since cut service even more deeply.
Last December, Barclay again praised Carter’s performance, this time in relation to the CTA post-pandemic initiative Meeting the Moment.
“I want to commend you and your team for the continued progress that you are making on Meeting the Moment,” Barclay said.
Board member the Rev. L. Bernard Jakes added to the praise: “Just making sure that, for public record, Mr. President, that you have done a marvelous job.”
As did board member Neema Jha: “You’re doing an amazing job as a leader, and I think your team is excellent in terms of innovation.”
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In January, Barclay once again praised Carter: “As always, I commend you and your team for your efforts.”
In March, Jakes noted that it’s the board’s job to challenge Carter but then immediately praised him. “I think it’s also important that the public knows that as directors, we’re not here just to rub you on the back and just give you an attaboy,” Jakes said. “You all have done a marvelous job and continue to do a marvelous job.”
What’s worse is that in the board members’ biographies, only one member, Michele Lee, is described as a regular transit rider. Ventra data reported by Streetsblog Chicago backs this up. Lee is the only member of the CTA board who used her Ventra card more than once a week on average last year — 57 times total — despite joining the board midyear. Jha, the other board member who joined in 2022, had the next highest number of uses at 28.
All other board members used their Ventra cards fewer than 20 times that year, including the Rev. Johnny Miller, who is on a continuing appointment (a term with no definitive end date). One member, Jakes, did not use his card at all in 2022.
The CTA board currently has one vacant seat, one that is filled by the mayor. We believe these seats, and eventually all board seats, should be filled by people who actually use the system they represent. Riding the CTA at least two or three days a week should be a minimum requirement for board members. The board should also be composed of folks who reflect the diversity of the CTA’s ridership — in terms of both demographics and geography — and have a genuine interest in improving our city’s public transit.
The CTA board is a crucial piece of the public transit oversight puzzle. We need a board that understands the day-to-day, on-the-ground challenges the CTA is facing now — and we need a board that will be tough with CTA leaders and hold them accountable for real progress.
It’s time to overhaul the CTA board.
Christina Marfice, Caroline Pavlecic and Fabio Gottlicher are members of Commuters Take Action, a collective of frustrated Chicago commuters.
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