Mayor Lightfoot knows that a world-class city requires world-class transportation. The mayor and her team are working to make sure that Chicagoans across our city have access to safe, reliable, accessible, and environmentally-friendly transportation options. 

Mayor Lightfoot knows that Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) bus and rail service is an essential tool for residents across our city. That’s why the mayor and her administration: 

• Worked with the Amalgamated Transit Union locals and City Colleges to recruit the next generation of CTA bus and rail operators and responded to the challenge of staffing shortages (which are affecting 84% of public transit agencies nationally) by offering hiring and retention bonuses and raising starting pay to increase service reliability.
• Invested over $3.4 billion in public transit through the 2023-2027 CTA Capital Improvement Program.
• Are prioritizing Better Streets for Buses, a comprehensive plan for expanding bus-priority streets (for instance, the city recently made the bus-only lanes along Chicago Avenue permanent), and are continuing the Refresh & Renew train station improvement initiative.
• Secured vital funding through a new transit TIF to move forward on plans for extending the Red Line to the Far South Side—a milestone achievement for public transit equity in Chicago and a plan discussed since the time of Mayor Richard J. Daley.
• Doubled the size of our contracted, unarmed security guard staff from 150 to 300 and deployed 50 canine teams to improve CTA system safety.
• Increased the number of sworn CPD officers patrolling train and bus routes to ensure police have a visible presence on and near transit. The violent crime rate on the CTA began to drop following the implementation of these new safety measures last year.
• Purchased new electric buses to convert to a fully-electrified bus fleet by 2040 while prioritizing routes serving South and West Side neighborhoods.

Mayor Lightfoot knows that our city has to heavily invest in modern, sustainable infrastructure to make it safer and easier for Chicagoans to walk, pedal, and drive across our neighborhoods. Under Mayor Lightfoot’s leadership, Chicago has:

• Invested in the $3.7 billion Chicago Works plan to improve infrastructure and create jobs for Chicagoans. Chicago Works’ investments include repaving some 165 miles of streets and alleys, 6,000 ADA-compliant curb cuts, and 1,950 new streetlights.
• Added more than 100 miles of new bike lanes, 75 percent of which are on our South and West Sides.
• Announced the largest expansion of concrete-protected bike lanes in city history, upgrading all protected bike lanes to concrete barriers by the end of 2023.
• Unveiled a citywide vision for a connected network of trails and corridors that will connect to transit, housing, and parks citywide, creating new outdoor assets and catalytic community investment.
• Increased the number of Accessible Pedestrian Signals across the city and added pedestrian islands to ensure a safer pedestrian experience.