CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Several Chicago alderpersons said they want Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) leaders to appear before the City Council more often, as the transit agency deals with several issues facing bus and train riders.
Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th) has proposed an ordinance to require CTA leaders to appear for hearings each quarter.
Riders on the CTA have complained for months about rising crime, delayed or canceled routes, as well as dirty trains and buses.
Vasquez also wants to give alderpersons the power to require that CTA President Dorval Carter appear at hearings, after he failed to show up at the most recent one.
“No one’s imagining that CTA is going to solve its problems at the snap of a finger, but at the very least, if you’re the president, you should be showing up to answer questions. No one’s saying it’s going to be easy, but there’s at least a decency and respect to the city council to be able to show up.”
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The hearings would give aldermen a better idea about how the CTA is addressing concerns voiced by residents.
“Really it’s just about the accountability in this area to improve,” Vasquez said. “You can’t make any system better if you’re just checking in once a year or twice a year. So, being able to talk quarterly to say, ‘Hey, what’s going on as far as these schedules? … What’s going on with hiring at CTA? Are we staffing up to the way that we should? What are we doing in regard to safety?’”
Vasquez said his ordinance would also allow the City Council to withhold funding from the CTA, if the president or other agency leaders ignore requests to appear at hearings.
The ordinance already has support from more than half of the City Council, he added.
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