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Feds Give CTA Days to Deliver Security Plan, Threaten Funding Over Transit Violence

The order imposes rapid deadlines with direct oversight, citing years of CTA data showing elevated assaults.

A train pulls away from the Clark Street and Lake Street Blue Line stop where a man doused a woman in liquid and set her on fire on the train Monday night, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
A Chicago police officer patrols the Clark Street and Lake Street Blue Line stop where a man doused a woman in liquid and set her on fire on the train Monday night, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
A train pulls into the Clark Street and Lake Street Blue Line stop where a man doused a woman in liquid and set her on fire on the train Monday night, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Chicago police keep watch at the CTA Red and Green Line Station in Chicago, Sept. 23, 2025. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)

Overview

  • The Federal Transit Administration issued a binding special directive warning it will withhold funds unless the CTA swiftly increases law-enforcement presence and strengthens safety measures.
  • CTA must submit a verifiable security enhancement plan by Dec. 15, implement it by Dec. 19, and update its Agency Safety Plan by the end of December under federal monitoring and possible onsite inspections.
  • FTA Administrator Marc Molinaro cited CTA and National Transit Database figures showing worker assault rates above national peers since FY2015 and a roughly 150% rise in attacks on customers over five years.
  • The federal action followed the Nov. 17 Blue Line case in which Bethany MaGee was set on fire; 50-year-old Lawrence Reed was arrested and later charged in federal court.
  • The CTA said it will respond within the requested timeline, while Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson criticized the threat and pointed to new Illinois transit-safety measures; some reports say up to about 25% of federal transit grants could be frozen if requirements are not met.