Despite a number of disturbing violent crimes on the CTA in recent months, violent crime on the mass transit system dropped slightly in 2025, as violent crime across Chicago also saw significant declines.

In an exclusive interview on Tuesday, Mayor Brandon Johnson spoke about the steps the city is taking to help riders feel safe on the CTA.

Johnson is coming off a year with crime stats that would be the envy of any Daley or Emanuel. Chicago saw a nearly 30% decline in murders in 2025, with 416 homicides, the fewest since 1965.

CTA data shows violent crime across the mass transit system last year dropped 6% compared to 2024.

Nonetheless, Johnson acknowledged there is still a crime problem on the CTA and said his administration is working to do better.

In November, a man set a woman on fire on a Blue Line train in downtown Chicago, leaving her critically injured. Lawrence Reed, 50, has been arrested on federal terrorism charges in the attack. 

On Saturday, a man was stabbed to death while sleeping on a Blue Line train in the Loop, and prosecutors said his attacker recorded the crime on his cell phone. On Sunday, a man was seriously injured in a stabbing on a Red Line train at the 69th Street stop on the South Side.

"Those incidents certainly set us back, when have those acts of violence," Johnson said.

The attacks have left some, even some City Council members, nervous to ride the CTA after dark, even amid the overall drop in violence the city has seen in the last year.

On Tuesday, Johnson and 3rd District Police Cmdr. Melvin Branch spoke to community leaders in the South Shore neighborhood about a number of topics, including safety.

"There's no secret here that we've had our challenges, right? I mean, that's part of the ongoing effort to continue to drive violence down in the city of Chicago, and particularly on the CTA," Johnson said. "Though we have seen decline of violence on the CTA, these incidents certainly provide us with that much more motivation to ensure that there's a holistic approach."

In a recent post on Facebook, Ald. Jim Gardiner (45th) urged people to "avoid using CTA public transportation after sundown until noticeable improvements are made."

How does the mayor respond to that?

"Violence continues to be a challenge on the CTA, but progress has been made. There's more work to be done. No one is patting theirselves on the back," he said. "Do these incidents frustrate me? Of course they do. Do they have the potential to set us back? Absolutely."

The CTA faces a mid-March deadline to meet the Trump administration's demand for an improved safety plan or risk losing $50 million in federal funding.

In December, CTA officials said dozens more Chicago police officers and private security guards would be deployed along the bus and train system.

But the additional officers were not enough for the Federal Transit Administration, which rejected that safety plan in a letter to acting CTA President Nora Leehrsen in a letter on Dec. 19, and gave the agency 90 more days to provide an enhanced security plan.

Mayor hopes Chicago can keep the Bears

As the Bears continue to seek a deal to build a new stadium, insiders have said their choices are down to Arlington Heights or northwest Indiana, but Johnson is hoping to keep them in Chicago.

"The Chicago Bears belong in the city of Chicago," he said. "The case to be made for Chicago has already been made. This is truly the best place in the world, and the Chicago Bears belong in the city of Chicago."

The mayor said he thinks Chicago is still a contender to keep the Bears.

"I mean, look, I don't think the door is ever closed," he said. "The Bears want to stay in Chicago. I've heard that, and it's a matter of coming up with the mechanisms that allow for that to actually become the reality."

Johnson mum on plans for possible second term

Speaking of futures, Johnson has played his cards close to the vest regarding the 2027 mayoral election, both joking he wants to be mayor for more than a decade and dodging questions on if he'll run for re-election next year.

"It's not so much that I'm dodging. I just, right now, when I talk to people in the city of Chicago, they don't ask about re-election. You know, they ask about making sure that there's going to be food on the table," he said. "Eventually the politics will play out."

Johnson said he thinks it's "irresponsible" to be talking about an election that's still more than a year away.