History of the Agency 


1859 The beginning of public transit in Chicago; early service is horse-drawn. 

1882 The Chicago City Railway obtains rights to operate San Francisco style cable cars. 

1892 The Chicago and South Side Rapid Transit Company opens on June 6, bringing elevated train service to Chicago. At the turn of the century, four separate transit railroad are operating in Chicago. The first trains, powered by steam, are quickly converted to electricity. 

1897 Elevated trains are built along available rights-of-way, often above alleys and less heavily used streets. The Loop L opens, connecting rapid transit lines serving the North, South and West sides of Chicago. 

1911 The rapid transit companies form a trust that, in 1913, allows free transfers between the carriers for the first time. This also marks the start of through-routing 
trains between the North and South Sides. 

1914 On February 1, four streetcar companies unite under a single management, the Chicago Surface Lines. At its peak, the Chicago Surface Lines operates along 1,100 miles of tracks and becomes the largest and most heavily used streetcar system in the world. 

1917 Buses are first used in Chicago as the Chicago Motor Bus Company is created. Bus use is limited to Chicago boulevards and parks. 

1922 The Chicago Motor Coach Company succeeds the Chicago Motor Bus Company. 

1924 The four rapid transit "L" companies merge to create the Chicago Rapid Transit Company. 

1943 To ease traffic congestion, the U.S. Department of Interior, the Public Works Administration, and the City of Chicago finance the State Street Subway. 

1945 The Chicago Transit Authority, an independent government agency, is formed when the Illinois General Assembly passes the Metropolitan Transit Authority Act. In the same year, the City of Chicago passes an ordinance granting CTA the CTA exclusive right to own and operate a unified, local transportation Voters pass the Act and 
Ordinance in a referendum on June 4. 

1947 The CTA begins operations by issuing $105 million in revenue bonds to purchase assets of the Chicago Surface Lines and the Chicago Rapid Transit Company.  

1951 The Dearborn Street Subway opens. 

1952-53: Through additional bond issues, the Chicago Motor Coach Company, a portion of the Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railway, and the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad right-of-way are added to the CTA. 

1958 The Congress branch opens along the median of the newly-built Congress expressway, connecting Forest Park with the Loop through Dearborn subway, with trains continuing to Logan Square on the northwest side. 

1964 The CTA obtains federal funding to create the first "light rail" service, the Skokie Swift. The Skokie Swift operates on track lines purchased by the CTA from the Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee Railway. Eventually the overhead wire is eliminated and the trains become two cars, allowing the Skokie Swift to become a popular rail shuttle and suburban inter-city bus link. 

1974 By the early 1970s the popularity of car travel and declining ridership levels threaten the fiscal stability of the local public transit providers as well as the CTA. 
Therefore, the Illinois General Assembly creates the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) as a fiscal and policy oversight agency committed to providing an efficient and effective public transportation system. Today, the RTA continues to provide fiscal oversight to CTA, Metra and Pace. 

1984 The CTA responds to changing demographics during the 1970s by expanding the West-Northwest Service from Logan Square to Jefferson Park, and then along the Kennedy Expressway median to River Road in Rosemont. Finally, the northwest transit extension is completed at O'Hare Airport, providing a station within the airport terminal. 

1993 The Dan Ryan branch, formerly linked to the Englewood and Jackson Park branches, is linked with the Howard branch. The new Lake to Englewood-Jackson Park service is rerouted to use the Loop Elevated. The Midway Orange Line is completed, linking the downtown elevated Loop to the Southwest side airport. Its completion makes Chicago the only city in the United States with public transportation connecting two major airports. 

1996 The CTA celebrates the re-opening of the rehabilitated Green Line, improving the service to customers on the West and South sides of Chicago. 

2006 The CTA introduces the Pink Line as part of a package of bus and rail service improvements for the West Side and western suburbs. The Pink Line provides more frequent service and improved travel times between the 54th/Cermak station and the Loop. CTA introduces new and improved bus service with two new local bus routes, three new express routes and eight enhanced bus routes. 

2009 The final regularly-scheduled bus routes are added to CTA Bus Tracker. Customers are able to access information online and receive email notification of predicted arrival times and service alerts . 

2010 
CTA begins testing the prototypes of a brand new family of L cars, the 5000 series rail cars. Ten cars are in test service, carrying passengers on various routes. 
These advanced cars result in a smoother, more comfortable ride and provide both operational and maintenance efficiency. 


Transit Facts 

Creation of CTA 

 The CTA was created by state legislation and began operating on October 1, 1947, after acquiring the properties of the Chicago Rapid Transit Company and the Chicago Surface Lines. On October 1, 1952, the CTA became the sole operator of City of Chicago transit when it purchased the Chicago Motor Coach System. 

CTA Governance 

 The CTAs governing arm is the Chicago Transit Board, which consists of seven members. The Mayor of Chicago appoints four board members, subject to the approval of the City Council and the Governor. The Governor, subject to the approval of the State Senate and the Mayor of Chicago, appoints three board members. 
 In 1974, the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) was created by state legislation. The RTA serves as CTAs fiscal oversight agency. 

Service Area & Population 

 220 square miles of Chicago and 40 nearby suburbs. 
 Service area of 3.9 million people. 

Ridership 

 Over 512 million trips projected for 2010. 
 Approximately 1.7 million trips per weekday. 

Bus Service 

 1,782 buses travel 141 routes. 
 Routes travel 172,991 miles each weekday, with approximately 11,577 bus stops. 
Rail Service 
 1,190 rail cars travel over eight routes. 
 CTA rail serves 224 miles of track covering 144 stations and yard track. 