Crime on the Chicago Transit Authority has dropped over the last six consecutive months amid a security surge to address a historically high number of violent attacks.
CTA’s interim boss Nora Leerhsen boasted about the numbers during the agency’s Wednesday board meeting, pointing to a 30% decline in all reported transit crime over 2025.
The drop was even more dramatic on the Red Line, where Chicago police and the Cook County sheriff’s office have focused increased patrols since March after a funding threat from President Donald Trump’s administration.
The Red Line has seen a 47% decline in all crime, and a 76% drop in violent crime through June over last year, Leerhsen said.
“The perception of safety on CTA is affected by every single incident we have,” Leerhsen said. “But given the importance of our system to the vitality and strength of our city, it is incredibly important to me that we still stop and note this progress, which is real and is continuing to sustain itself.”
Leerhsen did not mention that aggravated batteries and assaults are now lower than they were at the same date in 2025. If the trend continues, the CTA could finally be over a 5-year continual rise in violent attacks. The CTA closed out 2025 with 469 violent attacks — the most on record going back a quarter century, the Sun-Times previously reported.
Leerhsen said crime has continued to decline each month since January. Nine out of the last 11 months also saw a decline in crime, she said.
Crime fighting efforts on the CTA will now be overseen by the agency’s new chief of security, Joe Bird, who previously served as commander of CPD’s Public Transportation Section, Leerhsen said.
Chicago public transit has been undergoing a major overhaul since the June 1 implementation of the Northern Illinois Transit Authority Act.
The law saved the CTA, Metra and Pace from drastic service cuts by infusing them with an extra $1 billion a year. The law also replaces the oversight role of the Regional Transportation Authority with a more powerful NITA board, which must be seated by Sept. 1. NITA has the power to set fares and direct planning between the agencies in a way the RTA could not.
The law notable strips some power from Mayor Brandon Johnson, who no longer has the majority of appointments over the CTA’s board. Johnson this week announced his picks for the NITA boards, electing most of the appointments he had already made to the CTA and RTA. They must be approved by City Council.
Bus lane camera enforcement expanding
The CTA’s board on Wednesday also approved a major expansion of its automated bus lane enforcement program, increasing the ticket-issuing cameras from 6 to 52 buses. The camera-equipped buses have issued nearly 22,000 warnings and tickets since they were turned on in October, Leerhsen said. The cameras cover the No. 20 Madison, No. 36 Broadway, No. 66 Chicago, and No. 8 Halsted routes.