The Federal Transit Administration is backing off previous threats to withhold up to $50 million in federal funds from the Chicago Transit Authority over safety issues. At the same time, the feds are putting the screws on the Illinois Department of Transportation, which has some oversight authority over the CTA’s rail system.
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump’s FTA said it believed IDOT “has not properly leveraged its oversight authority and resources to protect Chicago passengers and transit workers,” citing the results of what it described as a routine audit.
The FTA issued a special directive to the state transportation department Tuesday, saying it must “take immediate action to address critical, persistent, and systemic deficiencies” in its oversight of the CTA.
Later Tuesday, a spokesperson for the FTA confirmed the agency did not plan to withhold federal funds from the CTA over safety issues, although the agency reserves the right to do so in the future.
In December, the FTA threatened to withhold up to $50 million in federal funding from the CTA unless it addressed crime — such as assaults against workers and riders — to its satisfaction, including by beefing up security staffing on public transit.
The feds rejected the CTA’s first crime reduction plan, submitted last year, calling it “materially deficient.”
The CTA responded last week with a new plan that it said will boost policing hours on the system by 75%. That plan calls for Cook County sheriff’s officers to patrol the rail system as well as for more staffing hours provided by Chicago police officers.
It was not immediately clear Tuesday if the December special directive regarding crime was still active. A spokesperson for the FTA did not answer a question about whether the agency was satisfied with the CTA’s new safety plan.
In a statement, acting CTA president Nora Leerhsen said the agency had received notice that “the funds at risk will not be withheld from CTA at this time” but would nevertheless continue to implement its new safety plan.
“Through strong collaboration with our partners in law enforcement and social services, our comprehensive plan takes a holistic approach to security for those traveling on CTA,” Leerhsen said.
In its Tuesday order directed at IDOT, the FTA accused the state transportation department of failing to conduct on-site safety inspections, failing to disburse federal grant dollars in accordance with FTA rules, and failing to ensure the CTA notified the FTA of accidents on time, amongst other allegations.
The FTA directive requires IDOT to take various actions to strengthen its oversight of the CTA, including conducting on-site safety inspections, conducting a review of the CTA’s in-house hazard assessments and developing a spending plan for federal dollars. The directive specifies that the actions be taken throughout the spring and summer.
Failure to do so, acting FTA executive director Jamie Pfister warns in the directive, could lead the feds to require IDOT to use federal funds to correct safety problems.
The FTA also said Tuesday it “reserves the right to take additional enforcement action as necessary.”
An FTA spokesperson did not immediately respond to a question about whether or not that action could include withholding federal funds.
The directive to IDOT comes after the feds last year issued a blistering order to the CTA itself regarding crime on the city’s trains and buses. The Tuesday directive to IDOT does not explicitly mention the main issues the feds focused on in that order, namely violent crime and specifically assaults against workers and transit riders.
But the Tuesday directive does reference the crime-fighting order to the CTA, saying that “evidence” the FTA uncovered while carrying out oversight under that order helped it determine that IDOT “has not exercised its authority, resources, or responsibilities at a level commensurate with CTA’s size, complexity, or safety risk profile.”
The FTA said in its directive that IDOT has allowed “critical safety concerns to persist without effective mitigation.” A spokesperson did not respond to a question from the Tribune about what those safety concerns were specifically.
A spokesperson for IDOT did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker slammed the directive in a social media post on Tuesday, calling it a “sham investigation.”
