Overview
- Federal transit officials launched a Safety Management Inspection and issued a Special Directive to IDOT, requiring 11 actions that include implementing recommendations from an April 2025 audit.
- IDOT must name a point of contact within three business days, with the inspection to commence after a kickoff meeting between state and federal officials.
- FTA cited repeated deficiencies at the state overseer—limited onsite presence, weak accident investigations, ineffective corrective‑action management, and minimal enforcement—and will assess risk identification, event reviews, Roadway Worker Protection, and verification of fixes.
- The agency warned that noncompliance could trigger further enforcement, including directing IDOT to use federal funds, following earlier threats that CTA could lose up to $50 million over safety shortfalls.
- CTA has proposed roughly a 75% increase in policing hours and added outreach measures, and Gov. J.B. Pritzker called the probe a “sham” as police data show aggravated batteries up more than 53% and sexual assaults more than doubled year‑to‑date on CTA property.