Chicago Submits Revamped CTA Safety Plan With 75% Patrol Boost as FTA Weighs $50 Million

Overview

• The plan pledges a 75% increase in policing hours by raising CPD Public Transit Section hours 34%, doubling off-duty CPD patrols to 240 officers, and assigning Cook County sheriff’s deputies for about 4,400 hours each month on rail lines.
• CTA detailed new enforcement operations that include Transit Rider Interaction Program train inspections, bus ride‑along patrols on high‑risk routes, and Bus Safe Corridor deployments at key stops during peak hours.
• Technology and fare controls will expand with AI gun‑detection across more than 1,500 station cameras, testing of high‑barrier gates at high‑evasion stations, farecard inspection missions, and clearer fare‑payment messaging on buses.
• Social‑service measures add pilots for crisis intervention specialists and violence interrupters plus $1.65 million to provide 30 dedicated shelter beds for unhoused riders.
• The FTA previously rejected CTA’s December plan as materially deficient after a November Blue Line attack; the agency is now reviewing the revised submission as CTA reports early declines in worker assaults and other crime metrics.