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4d ago

Chicago Mayor Mobilizes City Agencies to Enforce CTA Smoking Ban

The order centralizes enforcement measures to reduce riders’ exposure to secondhand smoke.

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A man lights a cigarette on a CTA Blue Line train after leaving the Pulaski station toward the Loop, March 15, 2022, in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
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Overview

  • The executive order tasks the Chicago Police Department, Department of Public Health, Department of Family and Support Services and the mayor’s office with coordinating smoking enforcement on CTA trains and buses
  • Public health responders and proposed Transit Health Response Teams will engage smokers with on-site counseling and connect them to long-term cessation resources
  • Johnson said that issuing more than 6,300 smoking citations in 2023 failed to curb violations, prompting a holistic approach that pairs policing with social-service outreach
  • A Regional Transportation Authority survey found four in five transit riders encountered smoking on buses and trains while CTA ridership is up 11 percent since last year, making safety improvements key to sustaining recovery
  • The order directs the city’s intergovernmental affairs team to lobby Springfield for funding to avert a projected $771 million CTA budget shortfall in 2026 as aldermen debate data-driven enforcement versus broader outreach