Claypool: CTA Job Cuts To Save $13 Million A Year
About a third of the jobs are going away because of the transition to the Ventra card system, which takes CTA out of the fare-collection business. Some will get the chance to reapply for 30 new jobs.
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About a third of the jobs are going away because of the transition to the Ventra card system, which takes CTA out of the fare-collection business. Some will get the chance to reapply for 30 new jobs.
On Monday, Ventra cards will begin replacing the familiar plastic and paper fare cards with magnetic stripes, which CTA and Pace customers have been using for years.
It's called the Ventra card. On Monday, it will officially be used to pay for rides on CTA, Pace and eventually Metra. CBS 2's Suzanne Le Mignot reports.
Police said the crash happened at 10:20 a.m., near the intersection of 15th Street and Western Avenue. The bus was involved in a crash with a pickup truck and a semi-trailer truck.
Service to the West Side on the CTA's Green Line train resumed early Thursday about an hour after officials shut the train line down after receiving a bomb threat.
A CTA bus driver whose hands should have been on the wheel instead had a cup in one hand and a spoon in the other.
CTA has barely begun issuing its new Ventra fare cards and already, there are problems, reports WBBM's Bob Roberts.
The unidentified man was found aboard a bus when it stopped near the 1100 block of South Kedzie Avenue.
Normal service has resumed on the CTA Red Line after a train derailed early Thursday in the South Side Englewood neighborhood.
Monday marks the three month mark in the CTA's five-month effort to rebuild the Red Line South from the ground up.
Although the newest appointee to the CTA's governing board suddenly backed out in the past week, the CTA's President says any upcoming agency shakeup should leave his agency out.
CTA is preparing to spend $166 million to upgrade a group of 'L' cars that won't be around for long after they're rehabbed.
Excuse the pun, but Red Line reconstruction is right on track.
Gov. Pat Quinn has appointed former U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald and former CTA Board chair Carole Brown to a panel tasked with recommending reforms for the Chicago area's public transit agencies, in the wake of patronage allegations at Metra.
The CTA once again will provide free rides for the first day of classes in Chicago's Public Schools, on Aug. 26.
CTA is running a deficit this year that, so far, stands at $10 million. But it is reassuring riders that the shortfall won't impact them.
Chicago police arrested a group of male robbery suspects dressed as women on the Blue Line on Monday morning.
Police said a man was waiting for her outside the restroom, and attacked her as she exited the washroom to return to her booth.
Every year some 800 to 900 property thefts are reported on CTA trains. Most of the stolen items are I-Phones or other electronic devices. The thefts, as Mike Parker reports, follow a familiar pattern, a pattern you should know about.
A government watchdog group said Wednesday that the resignations of two Regional Transportation Authority board members this week pointed to larger, troubling issues for the Chicago area's transit agencies.
For the first time, the CTA's fleet of 'L' cars is 100 percent accessible. But total accessibility is still a way off for Chicago's rapid transit system.
Acting on rider complaints, the CTA on Friday released the proposed seating configuration it will provide to manufacturers bidding on its next generation of 'L' cars.
Three people were taken to area hospitals with minor injuries after a CTA Pink Line train struck a vehicle in west suburban Cicero Thursday evening.
Nine people were hurt late Wednesday morning, when a CTA bus and a pickup truck crashed in the Wicker Park neighborhood.
With the mayor at his side, CTA President Forest Claypool explained how excessive absenteeism was costing the agency $40 million in 2011.
Participants climbed both towers of the Prudential Plaza for a total of 99 floors and nearly 2,500 steps.
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland won the 2026 Masters Tournament at Georgia's Augusta National, claiming his second straight green jacket.
Chicago had been 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position before Busch's single after going 1 of 23 in the previous two losses to Pittsburgh.
A man was killed this weekend in a shooting in the south Chicago suburb of Oak Forest.
The Chicago Sky have acquired Rickea Jackson from the Los Angeles Sparks in a trade for Ariel Atkins.
President Trump said the U.S. Navy will begin blockading ships from entering or exiting the Strait of Hormuz and intercept vessels that have paid tolls to Iran.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy pointed out that gamers "have many of the hard skills it takes to be a successful controller."
Starting in December, eligible men in the U.S. will be automatically registered for the military draft.
An attorney for ex-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan argued to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday that the former Democratic power broker's conviction on bribery and other corruption charges should be overturned.
Pope Leo XIV on Thursday met with David Axelrod, a longtime Democratic strategist and former senior advisor to former President Barack Obama.
A passenger on an American Airlines flight from New York to Chicago has been charged with making a false bomb threat that forced an emergency landing at Detroit Metro Airport last month, according to a federal criminal complaint.
Skyrocketing property taxes continue to be a hot-button issue in Cook County — particularly since last fall, when many residents saw their tax bills increase by 100% or more.
Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias this weekend issued a warning about a surge in text messages that falsely claim to come from his office or the DMV within it.
Tenants at a South Loop luxury high-rise that has been plagued with problems like broken elevators are vowing to fight five-day eviction notices.
It's become an annual March Madness tradition at CBS Chicago, pitting our city's best eateries in direct competition in a foodie bracket challenge. We did pizza, we've done Italian beef, we've done Chicago dogs. This year, we're taking flight with wings.
The United States has long struggled with understanding and finding ways to help treat mental illness. A new documentary, which is screening Saturday in Chicago, examines the reality of living with mental illness in America.
Allergy season is here, and the dreaded pollen can trigger sneezing, congestion, wheezing, and shortness of breath.
Northwestern Medicine and the American Red Cross teamed up for a community blood drive in Chicago on Monday morning.
Ending domestic violence is the goal of groups and advocates all over the world, and some experts in Chicago say it is time to become less reactive and more proactive when it comes to the people causing harm.
A new Iowa law bans local nondiscrimination protections on the basis of gender identity after the state became the first in the U.S. to roll back its civil rights code last year.
A new restaurant has joined the busy stretch of Halsted Street toward the south end of Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood that is also home to Alinea and Boka.
The federal government is suing Illinois, Connecticut and Arizona over efforts to regulate prediction market operators such as Kalshi and Polymarket.
The owners of the popular Uncommon Ground restaurant, live music venue, and brewery in Chicago's Wrigleyville community announced this week that they're looking for a successor to take over the business.
Chicago consistently ranks in the top three cities in Fortune 500 company headquarters, and now a competition has been launched to build on Chicago's power in business.
The flagship Ann Sather restaurant on Belmont Avenue in Chicago's Lakeview community will be moving later this year, a restaurant representative said Tuesday.
The United States has long struggled with understanding and finding ways to help treat mental illness. A new documentary, which is screening Saturday in Chicago, examines the reality of living with mental illness in America.
Afrika Bambaataa, a rapper and producer, was best known for breakthrough tracks like 1982's "Planet Rock" and for founding the Universal Zulu Nation art collective.
Mozart's "Don Giovanni," the local premiere of the 2022 opera "Omar," and a fresh production of "Guys and Dolls" are among the highlights of the 2026-2027 season for Chicago's Lyric Opera.
Federal magistrate Renee Harris Toliver told Pooh Sheisty that the evidence against him is strong.
A major music festival featuring the rapper formerly known as Kanye West was canceled after the U.K. government blocked Ye from entering the country.
In his Sunday message overlooking St. Peter's Square, the pontiff demanded a ceasefire in Lebanon as Israel ramps up its war against Hezbollah. Pope Leo also urged the international community not to turn its back on Ukraine.
Showers move back into the area with severe storms expected on Tuesday and Wednesday. Meteorologist Kylee Miller has the latest.
The White House announced the U.S. is implementing a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz in the wake of the breakdown of face-to-face talks between the U.S. and Iran.
Participants climbed both towers of the Prudential Plaza, a total of 99 floors and nearly 2,500 steps.
Ally of President Trump and veteran Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has conceded defeat in a parliamentary election, ending his 16 years in power.
A woman shot and wounded three men early Sunday on busy Irving Park Road in the Chicago neighborhood of the same name.
The man charged with damaging the vehicles of several Chicago firefighters at multiple locations on Chicago's South Side appeared at a bond hearing on Sunday, where he was ordered held.
Divers pulled a man from the water after a car was found submerged in a creek in Morris, Illinois, southwest of Chicago. The man later died.
Participants climbed both towers of the Prudential Plaza for a total of 99 floors and nearly 2,500 steps.
The Chicago Department of Transportation said southbound State Street will be closed between Wacker Drive and Randolph Street beginning Monday, April 13.
New proposed Illinois legislation would allow renters or people who can't install massive rooftop panels to also harness the power of the sun.
When a rusty light pole snapped and fell on a woman's car in Bucktown, causing thousands of dollars in damage, she thought the city would pay for it. She was wrong.
Financial exploitation is the leading type of elder abuse in Illinois. One Streamwood woman learned that personally, when her brother took hundreds of thousands of dollars from their parents' financial accounts.
One year after a teenage girl was shot outside her home in Country Club Hills, Illinois, and was told she would never walk again, she continued to defy the odds and reclaim her independence.
A Morgan Park family is still in shock after a staggering 300% spike in their latest property tax bill, and the man poised to take over as Cook County Assessor at the end of the year says it's an error he wants to make sure doesn't happen again.
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland won the 2026 Masters Tournament at Georgia's Augusta National, claiming his second straight green jacket.
Chicago had been 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position before Busch's single after going 1 of 23 in the previous two losses to Pittsburgh.
The Chicago Sky have acquired Rickea Jackson from the Los Angeles Sparks in a trade for Ariel Atkins.
Blackhawks forward Frank Nazar left in the second period after he was hit in the face by a puck.
Chicago threatened in the first inning when Andrew Benintendi doubled with two outs before Colson Montgomery flew out to end the inning.
A man was killed this weekend in a shooting in the south Chicago suburb of Oak Forest.
Chicago police on Sunday were investigating a shooting in the Back of the Yards neighborhood involving a teen riding a scooter.
The man charged with damaging the vehicles of several Chicago firefighters at multiple locations on Chicago's South Side appeared at a bond hearing on Sunday, where he was ordered held.
Chicago police early Sunday were investigating a shooting that left a woman dead in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood.
A woman shot and wounded three men early Sunday on busy Irving Park Road in the Chicago neighborhood of the same name.