CHICAGO CITY HALL (WBBM Newsradio) -- Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker say the CTA is taking steps to respond to concerns about public safety on trains and platforms, in the face of a new threat to funding from the Trump Administration.
The Federal Transit Administration says the clock is ticking for the city, the state and the CTA to send to Washington a plan to immediately reduce crime on trains and platforms - in response to last month's attack on a Blue Line train that left a rider with critical burns.
The directive released Monday says the government will withhold federal funds if the agency doesn't step up law enforcement presence on trains.
"We've already begun to make shifts in our approach," Mayor Johnson told reporters at City Hall Tuesday morning, saying that he remains focused on improving public safety, and that the city is moving in the right direction.
"I don't need a letter from the Trump Administration to tell me what my priorities are," said the mayor.
At a bill-signing in Little Village, Governor Pritzker told reporters the state's transit reform efforts approved by the Legislature during the veto session include support for improving public safety.
"This is the federal government threatening state and local governments with taking away federal funds that they're not allowed to," said the governor during an appearance at La Villita Community Church, 2300 S. Millard St. "Action has been taken, is being taken."
But critics including Downtown alderman Brendan Reilly said the agency and the city needs to do more.
"The CTA is not safe," said Ald. Reilly (42nd Ward). "Simply putting security guards on platforms is not enough."
Ald. Reilly say the agency needs to do more, including directing Chicago police officers to occasionally ride trains: "That's what New York City does. They've done it for decades and it works."
The mayor says Chicago police is just one resource involved in improving safety on the CTA.